THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 14, 1996 TAG: 9608140321
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: 99 lines
The 283-member Currituck Wildlife Guild is strongly opposed to a state takeover of the Whalehead Club and plans to fight commissioners who support the proposal.
``I think it will be a sad day for Currituck County if we give it up,'' said Norris Austin of Corolla, a member of the Whalehead Club board of trustees. ``Historical experts who have seen it say it could be as significant to Currituck County as Biltmore is to Asheville.''
Wildlife Guild members packed the Currituck County Library Monday night prepared to bombard Commissioner Owen Etheridge with questions. Etheridge, the county board's representative to the Whalehead Club Preservation Trust, was ill and unable to attend. Longtime Currituck County historian Barbara Snowden took the floor instead. Snowden is vice chairman of the Whalehead Club Preservation Trust.
Snowden said she first heard in March 1995 that commissioners wanted the state to assume expense and control of the Whalehead Club. The state would pay the $1.1 million the county owes for the property and the $3.8 million that estimates say it will cost to restore the building.
The guild members present were unanimously against the move fearing they will lose control of the Whalehead Club. Commissioners support it because it relieves the annual expense to the county.
``The county can clear its debt,'' said Eldon Miller, chairman of the Currituck County Board of Commissioners. He said the expenses are greater than can be handled locally. ``There has not been any effort by the guild to raise large sums of money. And if the state takes over then it will have access to the state archives for year-round exhibits rather than having a bunch of ducks all the time.''
Currituck County purchased the 60-year-old hunting club in 1992 and 27.5 acres around it for $2.4 million. It paid cash for an additional 12.5 acres since then. The county pays the $397,000 debt service from the $1 million collected annually in occupancy tax from Outer Banks resort rentals. Law requires the county to set aside one quarter of that total for the Whalehead Club. Some trustees say the $250,000 in revenues will support annual operation and upkeep of the property. Buck Thornton, chairman of the Whalehead Club Preservation Trust, disagrees.
``The trustees have the responsibility to provide funds to restore the Whalehead Club and continue to provide funds to allow it to operate in perpetuity,'' he said. ``To date, there is no source of funds to allow that. The most we'll ever get from the occupancy tax is $400,000 to $500,000 a year, and that will barely keep up the maintenance. To restore it will take $50,000 in every corner, and that's without surprises.''
The 20,000 square-foot, 20-room mansion will house the Currituck Wildlife Museum. Railroad tycoon Edward Knight built the lodge in 1925 for $383,000. The structure is solid, but installation of heating and air conditioning and updating plumbing and electricity will run up restoration costs.
``Ideally I wish somebody would hand us a check for $5 million, and we could tell the state goodbye,'' said Snowden Tuesday.
Tours through the Whalehead Club at $3 a head raise $20,000 annually. The trustees have received grants of $100,000 from the state and $50,000 from the Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies. There is $180,000 in the treasury. Snowden said they are repairing roof porches and broken glass in windows and doors.
Snowden told guild members Monday that if the Whalehead Club becomes a historic commission rather than just a historic site then locals will keep more control and state takeover is more digestible. State Senate Leader Marc Basnight, who has been working behind the scenes to get state funding, said the state still maintains control regardless.
``Most of the state's historic sites have a commission, and they all fall under the Department of Cultural Resources,'' Basnight said Tuesday. ``The program is controlled by the state no matter what you do.''
Basnight said recognition as a historic site and money to fund it is not easy to get, but he believed the money could be appropriated in the next legislative session if the county wants it.
``The state doesn't want to take it unless the county wants them to,'' Basnight said. ``If they (the trustees) can reach the ultimate goal of completing the facility and staffing the facility then it is always better to do it locally.''
State Rep. W.C. ``Bill'' Owens supports the state takeover if that's what commissioners want.
``I think it drains or causes a negative effect on taxpayers,'' said Owens. ``It may cause taxes to eventually go up. I will do all I can in my capacity in the state house to help. Betty McCain is a close friend, and we'll talk as much as possible to be sure and keep the local people involved. Knowing Betty as I know her, she'll welcome the help.'' McCain is secretary of the state Department of Cultural Resources.
``In my heart I have gone both ways,'' said Snowden. ``I want to do anything to get that building restored. I also want the people of Currituck County to be a part of that building and be proud of it.''
Thornton said a Whalehead Club board will likely be made up of several members with Currituck County roots and some from other areas.
``The sweet part of being part of the state is that we're all citizens,'' Thornton said. ``It's not like Russia is going to take over. Marc Basnight has Currituck County at heart or else he wouldn't be doing this.''
Austin, an amateur historian and lifelong Corolla resident, has checked into past historic transactions. He said the site where the Wright brothers first flew the airplane used to be part of Currituck County. Commissioners gave the area to Dare County in the 1920s, about the same time the Whalehead Club was being built.
``I think this is a comparison to that,'' said Austin. ``Generations to come are going to wonder what happened here.'' by CNB