DATE: Tuesday, October 21, 1997             TAG: 9710210268

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   79 lines

FORMER COAST GUARD SITE MAY HELP TEACHERS, FERRY RIDERS

Ocracoke Island's abandoned Coast Guard station soon may become a lounge for passengers waiting to take a ferry to the mainland, and classrooms for public school teachers participating in seminars.

Sen. Lauch Faircloth has introduced legislation that would allow the Coast Guard to transfer its $3.6 million station and 5.5 acres of waterfront land to North Carolina.

John Stamos, a spokesman in the senator's Washington office, said a vote might come by year's end - and the matter certainly will be decided by spring.

North Carolina would pay nothing for the property. But state funds would have to pay for repairs and renovations. No one could estimate how much that might cost.

``The Coast Guard wants to get that property off its roster. And the state has a couple of uses in mind for it,'' Stamos said. ``The Coast Guard will still have access to the land. But they won't have to man the building full time. It's in a state of some disrepair already.''

Built in 1940 on the south end of Ocracoke Island, the station is three stories high and more than 9,800 square feet, with a full-service kitchen, cafeteria and 30 dormitory-type rooms. The property also includes a 1,500-square-foot garage, two storage sheds and two piers. It sits next to the state docks where ferries pick up passengers to Cedar Island and Swan Quarterlocks and is bordered by Pamlico Sound and Silver Lake.

In June 1996, as part of federal downsizing, the Coast Guard pulled 18 permanent crew members off Ocracoke Island and vacated the station. One Coast Guardsman still resides on Ocracoke full time. And five Coast Guard members commute from Hatteras to the southern Outer Banks island for 48-hour shifts.

``They maintain two boats there, perform search-and-rescue operations, and do law enforcement work,'' Coast Guard Chief Wes Marks said Monday from his Hatteras office. ``They've been based at what was one of our houses, though, since we abandoned the station. We put that property up as surplus more than a year ago - after we were ordered to streamline our forces.''Although several state agencies have been vying for the Coast Guard station, Faircloth's bill gives priority to the ferry division and the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Ferry officials said they would like to use the building's first floor for offices, a souvenir shop and a lounge for passengers.

Already this year, more than 102,600 people have ridden the Cedar Island ferry from Ocracoke and more than 18,950 folks have taken the Swan Quarter ferry from the same docks. Ferry officials also hope to allow some of their employees who have to sleep over on Ocracoke to use rooms in the Coast Guard station.

``We're planning on occupying at least a portion of the building,'' Assistant Ferry Director Ralph Lawrence said Monday from his Morehead City office. ``It's very convenient to our Ocracoke landing site. And we've outgrown our own building. We have space to house 14 people right now. And frequently, we have 16 or more who need to stay overnight on Ocracoke - especially during storms.''

The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching would probably use the rest of the station. Part of the University of North Carolina system, the teaching center sponsors three- and five-day seminars for public school teachers. Plans include year-round, short-term programs on marine biology, weather, wetlands, water quality and Outer Banks history.

``We do seminars on the coast now. So it would be very advantageous to us to have a place on the coast to house our programs,'' Center Associate Director Kay Shapiro said. ``There's a lot of interest in the Outer Banks among our teachers.''

About 24 teachers, from pre-school through high school, attend each state-sponsored seminar, Shapiro said. State funds also pay for substitute teachers so full-time educators can participate. Officials estimate that annual operating costs for an Ocracoke arm of the center would be about $500,000 with an additional $250,000 in state money needed each year for renovations, equipment and supplies.

Some Ocracoke Island residents, who have been wondering what would become of their once-busy Coast Guard station, said transferring it to the state would be better than selling it to a private developer.

``I think that'd be fine,'' Ocracoke resident Julia Gaskins said Monday after hearing that the station might become a ferry passenger lounge and educational facility. ``It seems like a good cause.

``If it's not going to be used for something to benefit the island, it's better off being used for the ferries and teachers - something that will benefit the state as a whole.''

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