Future is uncertain for 125-year-old lifesaving station on North Carolina Outer Banks

An iconic Outer Banks building that survived 125 years of storms is facing a more formidable foe: changing times.

The Oregon Inlet Life-Saving Station north of Rodanthe out lived its usefulness and now sits empty with an uncertain fate.

Moving it to a different site is the best-case scenario proposed by the current owner, the North Carolina Aquariums.

However, that will take $750,000, which the state-run aquarium system said it does not have.

Rumors the historic building might be torn down have circulated recently on social media, but officials assure that is not being considered.

“There is no plan to demolish or sell the building,” according to Christian Legner, communications manager for the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island.

“Until funding is approved (by the state) or designated for anything besides upkeep and maintenance, the plan is to continue to preserve the building in place.”

The lifesaving building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, sits on 10 acres at the northern tip of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.

It was gifted by the U.S. Coast Guard to Dare County in 1988, according to a report by the U.S. Life-Saving Service Heritage Association. The county then donated it to the state, which assigned it to the North Carolina Aquariums.

Debate over the site’s future comes as the Outer Banks experiences unprecedented development, both residential and commercial. Historic sites are easily endangered, as property values rise and storms create costly preservation costs.

In 2020, Cape Lookout National Seashore chose to demolish six structures at the abandoned Cape Village and Portsmouth Village settlements because renovation became unfeasible, McClatchy News reported.

The state has already invested $700,000 in preserving the Oregon Inlet Life-Saving Station, including replacing the floors and roof and renovating three-story tower.

That was 15 years ago and the site remains empty and boarded up, with no designated use, officials say.

“There has been discussion for some time about moving the station to a location where it could be used or open to the public,” Legner said.

“There are no utilities at the current location, nor a budget to provide utilities or staff. There is no agency that is requiring the station to be moved and I’m not aware of any urgency behind a move. Because there has been no funding to move the building, there is not currently a plan for the property should the building be moved.”

Sites proposed as a new home include a spot adjacent to the state’s Roanoke Island aquarium, where it would be used “to support and expand the department’s education efforts,” officials said.

North Carolina Aquariums requested $600,000 to move the building in 2022, but it was not included in the state’s budget. The current estimate for relocation and rehabilitation is $750,000, officials said.

Aquariums Divisions Director Maylon White said the planned move remains on hold until funding can be secured, Carolina Review reports.

“We’re very much interested in preserving it,” he told the outlet. “We’re open to suggestions. What we need to get is funding, and then we need to have discussions if there are better places to put it.”

This story was originally published March 13, 2023 at 7:53 AM with the headline "Future is uncertain for 125-year-old lifesaving station on North Carolina Outer Banks."