DATE: Tuesday, November 18, 1997            TAG: 9711180296

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:   65 lines

SHIPWRECK MUSEUM COULD SINK WITHOUT $1 MILLION FROM COUNTY

The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum may sink to the bottom of the fund-raising sea if Dare County doesn't throw a $1 million rescue line, museum representatives said Monday.

In a plea to the Dare County Board of Commissioners, museum executive director Joseph Schwarzer said the additional $3 million needed to design, build and fill the 18,768-square-foot facility will be hard to squeeze out of corporate benefactors without strong local support.

``That $1 million will get us just about there,'' Schwarzer said. ``That would be the kicker to free up the additional money.''

A capital campaign is set for January, the director said, and should be completed in 18 months. A little over $1.2 million remains of the funds raised since the project began 13 years ago, including $100,000 from Dare County, $800,000 each from Congress and the state, a $760,000 federal grant and an unspecified grant from the Dare County Tourist Bureau.

The museum, which would house artifacts from some of the 1,000 vessels that went down off the Outer Banks coast in the last four centuries, is to be dedicated to the preservation of maritime history. But the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum is caught in a Catch-22, Schwarzer said. No one wants to donate money because there is no building, and the building can't be constructed until there is money. To add to the frustration, some hesitate to donate artifacts because there is no building to put them in.

``Our continued fundraising efforts hinge on your continued support,'' Danny Couch, a museum board member, told commissioners. ``We absolutely must not lose credibility at this point if we are to succeed.''

Schwartzer used various props, including a model of the proposed facility, to illustrate work in progress. Schwartzer told the board the museum already has a 30-year agreement from the park service to use 7 acres worth $2 million near the Hatteras Island Ferry dock. It has completed $400,000 of site work and $54,000 of engineering work, and has invested $113,000 for a video about the museum that will be released within days. Plus, the museum stands to make $20 each from 700 historic state license plates that honor the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

The public, non-profit educational institution is a partner with the National Park Service and theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The museum employs two, including Schwarzer, who is paid $50,000 a year as executive director.

The project may come to a grinding halt if construction does not begin by June 1998, the deadline both agencies set on an extension of the federal grant. But Schwarzer said the $1 million - which the museum ``fully intends'' to pay back, would be enough to construct the $2.1 million building.

Despite arguments that the museum would be an asset to the county, the board did not comply.

``I doubt there's anybody on this board who does not support the concept of this museum,'' Chairman Geneva Perry said. ``But there are limitations on where this money can come from.''

Commissioner Richard Johnson said he believed it would ``irresponsible'' for the county to commit the bond funds for the museum when the school board may be asking for money out of the same pot on Thursday, when it is scheduled to meet with the county commission to discuss building needs.

When Commissioner Douglas Langford made a motion to give the $1 million to the museum through a bond issue, with an understanding that it would be paid back, Commissioner Shirley Hassell interrupted.

``I cannot believe that this board, who has only had this information for 30 minutes, is willing to make a decision of this magnitude.''

Johnson's motion to table the matter was approved 4-3. Perry appointed a committee that will report back to the board in December.

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