THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 27, 1995 TAG: 9505270496
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER CHRISTMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BUXTON LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Music from the Cape Hatteras School Band and the cries of seagulls wafted in the light breeze as county officials pushed their symbolic shovels into sand for the ground-breaking Friday of the long-awaited Fessenden Center.
``I'm not a jogger, but I feel like I've just run a marathon and won,'' said Bonnie Williams, who headed the Fessenden Center Committee. ``It's been a long time coming.
``As you can see, this seven-year blood-sweat-and-tears project is finally a dream come true.''
Williams' committee has been working since 1988 to establish a community center, but it wasn't until October that the Dare County commissioners unanimously approved the project. Originally estimated at $862,000, the center will cost $1.2 million.
Scheduled to open Feb. 12, 1996, the facility will be a 12,619-square-foot multipurpose community center.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens said the center will benefit the entire community.
``It will be - and I can promise you this - a multipurpose center,'' he said. ``It will not be an athletic center. It will not be a recreation center.
``It will be a center for everyone on Hatteras Island.''
The center is named for Reginald A. Fessenden, ``the father of wireless communications,'' who made the first wireless broadcast of musical notes from an antenna near Buxton in 1902.
The center's facilities will include a 3,000-square-foot meeting room for senior citizens, two outdoor tennis courts, a basketball court, parking area and wooden walkway and pier.
``We just wanted to come out and see this happen,'' said Eldon Weeks of Frisco. ``There aren't many places for people to come together, and the center will be a big building where people can meet.''
Juanita Peele, a 64-year-old Buxton resident, said she plans to do more at the center than just chat.
``Why, I'm going to learn how to play ping-pong and tennis and shuffleboard,'' she said, laughing. ``It'll be a great time.'' MEMO: THE CENTER
To Open: Feb. 12, 1996
Size: 12,619 square feet
Cost: $1.2 million
Facilities: Meeting room, two tennis courts, basketball court,
parking area and wooden walkway and pier ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by DREW C. WILSON, Staff
Hatteras Island volunteers and Dare County officials dig into the
sand with their symbolic shovels during Friday's ceremony for the
Fessenden Center.
by CNB