Nonprofit fights to save Oregon Inlet life station on Outer Banks

Many people may notice a building sitting alone in the sand dunes near the Basnight Bridge on the Outer Banks. It turns out it has protected Oregon Inlet for more than a century and a new nonprofit is hoping to preserve it for years to come.

The Oregon Inlet Life Station has overlooked the Atlantic Ocean from Pea Island since 1898. It was home to the U.S. Life Saving Service, which protected all of the nation’s coasts, including the Outer Banks.

James Charlet is known as a keeper of Outer Banks history. He portrays a life-saving service keeper in re-enactments at Cape Hatteras.

“They went out in small wooden boats in violent storms,” Charlet said. “They responded to over 178,000 lives in peril on the sea, of which they saved over 177,000 but somehow America has forgotten these peaceful heroes.”

Now, Charlet is honoring that memory by trying to save the station. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, but Charlet said it’s become a target for vandals. When the U.S. Life Saving Service disbanded, the state took ownership of it.

Charlet said the state renovated the building several years ago, but since it now sits vacant, it has fallen into disrepair.

The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources plans to move it off the island.

“Given the site’s vulnerability to more intense storms and increasing shoreline erosion, the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources remains committed to moving the building to a new site as the best option for its long-term preservation,” NC DNCR said in a statement to WRAL News.

Charlet does not believe the station needs to be moved. He started a nonprofit called Outer Banks Coast Guard History Preservation Group with the goal of raising money to buy it.

He’d like to see it serve a new life as a multi-purpose space that could be rented for everything from corporate retreats to weddings.

“Here, it could serve millions of people. It could also serve the economy of Hatteras Island, Dare County and of the state. So, I think it’s a win-win,” Charlet said.

WRAL News asked Charlet about the possible impacts of sea-level rise. He said he doesn’t agree about the potential impacts since the building has stood since 1898.

Also, Charlet said the cost to move the building will be higher than refurbishing it where it currently stands.

State budget requests have included money to renovate and move the station, but those funds never made it to the final draft. In the meantime, the Oregon Inlet Station is uncertain.