Five Attractions To Work Together

Five years of lawsuits, political intrigue and fighting over Currituck Beach Lighthouse (North Carolina) has finally ended as Currituck County’s Whalehead Club and the Outer Banks Conservationists join forces with three other groups to form the Corolla Coalition. The two groups, which fought over ownership of the light, have joined with the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education, the Corolla historic village and the Corolla Wild Horse Fund to make the sites a unified experience for visitors. “What’s happened has happened,” Currituck County Commissioner Owen Etheridge said. “If we can’t move forward, then we’ll suffer the consequences.” Current plans include creating site maps and improving signage before the tourist season gets into full swing.

The Fight For the Light

The dispute over ownership of Currituck Beach Lighthouse began back in 2001, when the light was excessed by the government. The Outer Banks Conservationists had had a lease with the US Coast Guard for maintenance of this light, and had restored the decaying brick beauty to its former glory during its 13 years of stewardship. But then along comes Congressman Walter B. Jones, who sees this as a money making opportunity for Currituck County, aka tourist dollars. When the notice of availability was published, both Currituck County and the OBC applied. After the usual months-long decision making process, the light was awarded to OBC. That’s when the proverbial manure really hit the wind-making machine.

Jones, an ultra conservative Republican, had portayed the Conservationists as a liberal group from away,and even invoked the aid of the White House and the Department of Homeland Security. Before the application process had even begun, though, he’d filed legislation, attached to a natural resources bill, to have the government bypass the process and deed the light to the county. That measure was defeated, partly because lighthouse preservationist groups had mounted a campaign of their own.

In March of 2003, the four member Park Service Board awarded the deed to OBC. The score? 97 out of a possible 100, to Currituck County’s 33. The County condemned the decision as biased and promptly filed an appeal. That’s when the dirty fighting really began. Jones filed a request for the White House Council on Environmental Quality to look into the matter. And filed a complaint with the Coast Guard on OBC’s fee collection practices. And when that report came back clean, Jones and the county took it to the media to try and drum up support.

Pulling In the Big Guns: The IRS

Jones even went so far as to get the IRS to audit the non profit group’s finances. Which of course came back clean. This abuse of power went on for years. Even when the deed was issued, it sat on a desk for weeks because Jones had called and said, “Leave it there.” The OBC chose to fight back, by threatening to file suit over failure to release the deed. It worked, and the deed was finally awarded.

But the County still fought back, claiming the lighthouse visitors were illegally and improperly using the Whalehead Club’s restrooms. That was finally settled in April 2006, with the OBC having to agree to pay a fee to the county’s club for restroom use.

For a complete and excellent story on this, read The Fight for the Light, posted at Gene Rowlett’s site.

Future Implications

Currently, there is a fight brewing in Maine over the future ownership of the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. It’s almost like the town selectmen and the park board read this story and decided to use its own version of this misguided civic pride to demand the lease (that they’d once rejected) from the Coast Guard. Currently, the American Lighthouse Foundation has the long term lease, and the lighthouse is not being excessed any time in the near future. But the resolution of the Currituck Beach Lighthouse controversy does give hope that it can work out for Pemaquid Point Light and their dedicated group of volunteers.

Unfortunately, there will probably be more on the Pemaquid Point lighthouse controversy before it’s over, as a buried item in a story about the lack of candidates for this year contains this:

There are several big issues to be decided at Town Meeting this year: Whether or not to appropriate funds for a new town hall building design and whether or not to accept the gift of the Pemaquid Point Light Tower from the federal government if and when it is excessed will be discussed and voted on at open town meeting on Tues., March 18, at the Bristol School.

Um, they have to apply for it, unless the plan is to follow in Walter B. Jones’ footsteps. Stay tuned for more as it happens.

Photo Credits:

• Currituck Beach Lighthouse by Eurowestgirl. Some rights reserved.
• The Money Donation Pit at Currituck by Lori Wright. Some rights reserved.

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