THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 18, 1995 TAG: 9506180071
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER CHRISTMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RODANTHE LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Twenty years ago, Michael Halminski considered the Chicamacomico Life Saving Station - with its cracked paint, chipped shingles and rich history - a ruggedly beautiful place, and a fascinating subject for a fledgling freelance photographer.
Now 46 years old and a noted Outer Banks photographer, Halminski sees the station not just through the lens of a camera, but also with the eye of a sculptor.
By restoring the station's past, Halminski is shaping its future.
For the past three years, Halminski, president of the Chicamacomico Historical Association, has dedicated most of his free time to crafting the age- and weather-beaten structure into a museum equaling the glory of the men who once risked their lives to redeem others'.
A ``transplant'' from California, Halminski has no tales of ancestors braving flames to salvage members of a sinking tanker's crew. His appreciation for the station comes not from lineage, but from vision.
``I used to come here all the time,'' Halminski says, peering through his mirrored-lens sunglasses. ``I was always just fascinated by the architecture. I liked the dilapidated look. I used to take pictures of it all the time.''
In 1983, Halminski, who then lived within walking distance of the station, was asked by then-president of the historical association Jim Henry to develop photographs from old negatives. His work earned him a seat on the association board that year.
When Henry died in 1992, Halminksi was a popular choice to take the helm.
When Halminski speaks of his predecessor, he could be talking about himself.
``While Jim Henry was running it, it was basically a one-man show,'' Halminski says, fidgeting with a hole in the knee of his Wranglers. ``Everyone else had jobs and careers and so forth. He did an awful lot of the work.''
So does Halminski.
For Halminski, each day is a balancing act between operating a photography gallery in his Waves home, where he makes his living, and keeping Chicamacomico alive.
Even on days the center is closed, Halminski is always on call to drive up the station's gravel path to host a last-minute tour, as he did last week for 130 fourth-graders. He spends hours on the phone each week, responding to inquiries and discussing renovation strategies.
``My thought when I was first elected was that if it gets to be too much, if it cuts into my livelihood and all that, I'll quit,'' he says.
``And it has,'' he adds with a small smile. ``But so far I haven't quit yet.''
Under Halminski's leadership, the station has gone through a major facelift. It has been stripped, painted and varnished. Some parts have been gutted and replaced. Halminski, who says he enjoys the hands-on renovating, has done much of the work himself.
Jim Kierzkowski, vice president of the association and owner of the Blue Whale general store in Salvo, says Halminski's efforts go unsung.
``Michael is very low-key and doesn't like the limelight, which is good because Chicamacomico is a somehwat thankless job,'' Kierzkowski says. ``Sometimes it seems that the natives really have little interest in what goes on there. But Michael does it tirelessly.
``He's an artist and the building is his craft. It's sort of an obsession with him. It's like a child.''
Halminski agrees.
``My downfall is that I really like doing this,'' he says, squinting as he rubs a hand on the doorframe of the surfmen's quarters. ``It's never-ending. It's relentless - the grip.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/Staff
Michael Halminski: ``I was always just fascinated by the
architecture. I liked the dilapidated look. I used to take pictures
of it all the time.
by CNB