THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 8, 1994 TAG: 9411080318
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COROLLA LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Currituck County officials learned Monday that their $1.26 million bid for 10.4 acres of land at the main entrance of the county-owned Whalehead Club has been accepted.
``I think it's great,'' said B.U. Evans III, chairman of the county's Board of Commissioners. The board entered the sealed bid after an Oct. 28 special meeting. ``We can now have the entire area as a public park and a public facility.''
The county two years ago bought 27.5 acres that include the historic three-story hunting club, a boat basin and a foot bridge near the Corolla Lighthouse complex.
That $2.4 million purchase has an annual debt payment of about $600,000 and is expected to be paid off in five years with money from an occupancy tax on Outer Banks resort rentals, officials said.
The most recent purchase of $1,265,241 will be paid in cash, Evans said.
That money also will come from the tourist tax that last year earned Currituck County just under $1 million in revenue.
Currituck County currently has a $1.3 million balance in unappropriated funds from the occupancy tax, said Currituck County Finance Officer Dan Scanlon.
``We can cover the bid that we submitted,'' Scanlon said Monday.
The five-member board voted 3 to 2 in favor of making a sealed bid to NRC Auction in Chicago after holding an executive session less than two weeks ago. The special meeting was called to beat the Nov. 2 deadline.
Voting against the purchase were Gene Gregory and Ernie Bowden, the only commissioners who will remain on the board after today's elections. Other incumbent commissioners lost during the Democratic primaries or did not seek re-election.
Monday's announcement came as a surprise to some officials.
``We really were not expecting to hear about it today. We thought it would be later in the week,'' Evans said.
The odd amount of the bid was done to make it stand out from other offers, Evans said.
A list of other bids will not be publicly disclosed until the deal with the county is sealed, Scanlon said.
The county plans to keep the tract at the entrance way on N.C. 12 undeveloped. Evans earlier said board members feared a commercial developer would build a shopping center on the site.
The Whalehead Club has become a gathering place for county and private functions and this past summer season brought in more than $40,000 from private donations and tours of the once-lavish mansion.
Whalehead Club officials plan to restore the 20,000-square-foot building for $3 million to $5 million. Eventually it will house a wildlife museum - an idea, Evans said, that was originally approved by county officials in the 1970s.
Evans said Monday that he has received favorable comments about the recent real estate acquisition proposal. But, he admits, ``I know the opposition's out there.''
Critics, particularly on the mainland, have said the money used to buy the Whalehead Club could have been better spent on tourist-related sites and programs that benefited more county residents. by CNB