The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, January 7, 1995              TAG: 9501070242
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
TYPE: METRO BRIEFS 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   40 lines

BABBITT A BUILDER

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt will help other volunteers build a three-bedroom house for Cape Hatteras National Seashore employees next week, National Park Service officials said Friday.

On Jan. 13, Babbitt and other builders will erect a 1,450-square-foot home on Roanoke Island, near the seashore headquarters. The house will replace one of the aging trailers that Park Service employees now inhabit.

Labor, materials and appliances for the house are being donated by manufacturing, construction and building supply companies.

``We expect a lot from the Park Service employees who watch over this nation's finest natural and cultural treasures,'' Babbitt said. ``Yet at the end of their work day, we expect some of these employees to go home to living quarters that range from marginal to awful in some parks. Housing is in short supply at Cape Hatteras.''

The North Carolina Home Builders Association, the National Association of Home Builders and several other companies are sponsoring the construction project.

Nags Head builder Carl ``Pogie'' Worsley will supervise the work. ``During the hurricanes and other severe storms . . . National Park Service personnel are always there to assist our communities in emergency repair and cleanup operations,'' Worsley said. ``This is a way for us to give something back to the Park Service for all the help they've given over the years.''

Cape Hatteras National Seashore covers 30,319 acres from Oregon Inlet through Ocracoke Inlet. The National Park Service employs about 90 permanent workers and nearly 100 seasonal assistants. The Park Service provides housing for about one-third of its permanent staff and for more than half of its seasonal workers. by CNB