Oregon Inlet station to be rescued from aging, sand

OREGON INLET, N.C.

Abandoned 20 years ago, the old Oregon Inlet Life Saving Station has become a weather-beaten playground for vandals, surrounded by dunes of wind-blown sand.

"Right now you can practically walk onto the roof," said Chip Hemingway, owner of BMS Architects in Wilmington. "So the building is getting ready to be buried."

Apparently in the nick of time, the state-owned building is to be raised 10 feet and placed on pilings, allowing the sand to blow freely underneath. The concrete floor will be replaced by wood. If funds allow, the roof will be replaced and the three-story tower will be renovated.

"What we're doing is rescuing the historic structure from further deterioration," Hemingway said.

The nine-month project, estimated to cost $700,000, is expected to begin within 60 days, he said. The first step will be demolition of the dormitory addition built in the 1970s.

Most recently used by the Coast Guard, the 1897 station, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, can be seen by drivers traveling south over the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, barely visible behind massive piles of sand on the ocean side of the northern tip of Hatteras Island. A jetty on the south end of Oregon Inlet that was built to protect the bridge has alleviated severe erosion, but has caused the sand to build up as high as 25 feet by the building.

After the Coast Guard vacated the 10-acre site in 1988, it was turned over to Dare County. A prolonged battle was then launched by heirs of the man who gave the land to the Coast Guard in 1897. In 2000, the county gave the property to the state, which assigned it to the North Carolina Aquariums to administer.

In 2001, Hemingway's firm designed conceptual plans for restoration of the 11,361-square-foot wood frame station - then referred to as the Oregon Inlet Coast Guard Station - and construction of three buildings, transforming the site into the marine and coastal wildlife research center on the Outer Banks.

Continued uncertainty about the replacement for the Bonner Bridge stalled the idea. Meanwhile, the aquariums decided to rebuild hurricane-damaged Jennette's Pier and its pier house to use as an educational, recreational and research facility, replicating part of the original concept for the station.

"Its utility to aquariums is not as great as it previously was," said aquariums Director David Griffin. "So we're reassessing its value."

Griffin said the aquariums have been consulting with the state Department of Transportation about effects the new bridge could have on the station. If the proposed 17.5-mile bridge were built, he said, the station would likely have to be relocated.

Once the state decides on the bridge design this year, then the station may become more interesting to other state agencies, or even federal or county entities. All offers to take over stewardship or ownership will be examined, Griffin said.

The ultimate fate of the station is still uncertain, said Chris Ivers, project manager for the North Carolina Aquariums Division.

As stewards of the property, the aquariums have had lead and asbestos removed and have boarded windows and secured the station from the weather and intruders.

Nonetheless, the mysterious-looking, haggard building in the middle of nowhere has been a persistent vandal magnet. Old cisterns at the site have been disassembled and carted off. Most recently, intruders broke a hole through a portico.

"I bet we've gone back a half-dozen times to repair it," Ivers said. "There's nothing in the building - they just kind of wander through just to look at the building. There isn't even any graffiti in there."

Hemingway, the architect, said that despite the leaking and the deterioration over the years, the building is in remarkably good condition. It is sealed tight now.

"It's in a 135-mph wind zone," he said, "so it's got to be stout and sturdy."

Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com