THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603140505
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
It lost its steeple to the wind and its pillars to an admirer, but officials here hope the Dare County courthouse hasn't lost its chance to join the historic register.
Built in 1904, the modest two-story brick structure on the corner of Budleigh and Queen Elizabeth streets is likely the oldest government building still in use in the county.
Stocked with county records dating to 1870, the building also houses Superior Court and Sheriff's Department offices.
``At one time, it housed the entire county complex,'' Dare County Commission Chairman R.V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. said at Monday's commission meeting. ``We should look at ways of maintaining our heritage and history in Dare County.''
The courthouse is a colorful illustration of the Outer Banks' heritage. Once more ornate, the edifice was nearly demolished by the 1933 hurricane. The storm toppled the steeple - which was never replaced - and dislodged several porch columns. Moncie L. Daniels, grandfather of both state Sen. Marc Basnight and Owens' wife, decided the columns would look just fine at his house on Sir Walter Raleigh Street. The house, and the courthouse pillars, are still there.
Owens wants the county to investigate ways of getting the courthouse on the National Register of Historic Places.
And while he's at it, Owens said he's going to look into why the county turned down an offer from the state in the late 1970s that would have done just that - with no trouble and at no cost.
``The county commissioners explicitly rejected it,'' said Wynne Dough, curator of the Outer Banks History Center.
Although it happened on his watch, Owens said he has no memory of the board turning away such a plum. He said he just recently learned that Dare County was one of only two courthouses in the state that declined.
``I know I was on the board then. . . . It shocked me'' to learn of the rejection, Owens said. ``But if I did it, I did it.''
Scott Power, regional supervisor for the Division of Archives and History at the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, said that with the earlier offer, the state had waived most of the routine requirements to get on the register. Current standards are much harder, he said.
``Now they're going to have to go through the whole process,'' Power said. ``The level of documentation required now is much higher.''
Power said the state will decide if the courthouse meets the preliminary requirements for the register after state historians view slides of the courthouse. If the first step is passed, then the county would probably have to hire a consultant for several thousand dollars to push the process along.
Although winning a place on the National Register of Historic Places does not prevent alteration of the structure unless federal money is used, it would offer federal money to restore and repair the building.
But with all the renovations the courthouse has undergone in the last 20 years, Dough said he fears the county may have lost its shot.
``I'm not especially sanguine about this effort succeeding,'' Dough said. ILLUSTRATION: DREW C. WILSON
The Virginian-Pilot
Dare County rejected an offer in the 1970s to have its 1904
courthouse placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
by CNB