Design
Turn right where US Highway 64 ends at Whalebone Junction in Nags Head and follow Highway 12 south down Bodie Island toward Hatteras Island and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Recreational Area. Where the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge crosses Oregon Inlet into the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, enjoy a dramatic view of the now renovated Oregon Inlet Life Saving Station. Situated on the ocean side at the base of the bridge, the original station was constructed in 1897-1898 to replace a station built in 1874 (originally named the Bodie Island Station) and remodeled in 1933 and 1979. Its predecessor was one of the first of seven stations built since 1874 by the US Life Saving Service, which became the US Coast Guard. In addition to the Oregon Inlet Station, there were stations at Caffrey’s Inlet near present-day Currituck; Jones Hill (later renamed Currituck Beach, at present-day Corolla); Caffrey’s Inlet (near the Currituck-Dare County line); Kitty Hawk Beach; Nags Head; Chicamacomico in the village of Rodanthe; and Little Kinnakeet in the village of Avon.
According to the federal government National Register Nomination for the life saving station, 29 stations had been established by 1905, all but four on the Outer Banks. Out-buildings housed the crews and equipment that stood by to assist boats and ships on their perilous journey along the treacherous North Carolina coast and through the fickle inlets that opened and closed from the ocean to the Albemarle Sound and the more expansive Pamlico Sound. The inlets were vital transportation routes, allowing ocean-going vessels access to the safer waters of the Inner Banks and the commodities of its river and sound communities. Oregon Inlet itself opened as a result of a hurricane that struck on Sept. 7, 1846. It became the dominant navigation route through the Northern Outer Banks as New Inlet near Rodanthe steadily shoaled and closed before 1930. The name of this mighty inlet came from the side wheeler Oregon, the first vessel to pass through.
State Aquariums Play Lead Role
Chris Ivers, project manager for the North Carolina Aquariums, credits the station’s historic and architectural significance as the driving force behind the renovation.
“We are the caretakers of the building, and saw our job to protect it and renovate it for future use,” says Ivers.
The project to save the Oregon Inlet Life Saving Station began 10 years ago when the state construction office determined the severely endangered structure could be saved. Reid Thomas of the Department of Cultural Resources was one of the resource people who initially investigated the station when it was boarded up and covered with plywood.
“We were impressed with the amount of original fabric in the building, despite previous renovations by the Coast Guard. Mostly, they just covered things up and left the original materials intact.”
The state saw the Oregon Inlet Life Saving Station as a potential research station to complement the work by the aquariums and as a retreat for students and educators working with marine resources.
“The effort to save the station had bi-partisan support in the legislature,” says Ivers, “and we were able to secure the funds to hire George (Chip) Hemingway of BMH Architects in Wilmington, and Outer Banks’ construction firm Waldt Construction Company, to perform a phased renovation.”
Fortuitous Choice
The choice of Hemingway was fortuitous. As a youngster who grew up in Eastern North Carolina surfing at Wrightsville Beach, Hemingway first saw the life saving station in 1980 when, with his new driver’s license in his pocket, he drove across the Bonner Bridge in search of surf.
“When I saw the building, it had some unfortunate accessory buildings kind of grouped around it,” says Hemingway. “A flat-roofed dormitory building had been constructed on one side, and the austere beauty of the Shingle Style architecture characteristic of these stations was obscured. I sure didn’t know that more than 30 years later I would get to renovate it.”
The renovation of the Oregon Inlet Life Saving Station proved a challenge, beginning with the unearthing of the building from literally tons of sand encroached on it during frequent fierce storms. The decision was made not to dig it out, but to raise it up. Hemingway describes elevating the 3500-square-foot building, including its tower, 10 to 19 feet above grade and placing it on pilings sunk 16 feet into the sand.
“When we raised the station, all that was left of the foundation were termite mounds,” Hemingway recalls. “The concrete had eroded away and broken apart.”
The walls were eased down on a new pine floor, capable of sustaining 100 pounds per-square-foot of pressure. New cedar shakes were nailed to the original exterior material and new porch columns were tooled to look like the original. As a final touch, the first Oregon Inlet Life Saving sign with its stylized logo was found, cleaned, repainted and attached to the elevation facing the sea and the building’s concrete boat dock.
“For now, we’ve left the interior of the building unfinished,” says Hemingway. “The use of the building may change according to how the proposed new Bonner Bridge is sited and, in fact, we might have to move it.”
Ivers agrees that the station would be suitable for a local visitor’s center for the Outer Banks, perhaps housing offices for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
“It may become a satellite research center for the aquariums, or it may be used as quarters for visiting scientists and other resource people who will be conducting experiments at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head, also being rebuilt and expanded by the North Carolina Aquariums.”
Jennette’s Pier Evokes Past Joys
Though at present Jennette’s Pier at South Virginia Dare Trail in Nags Head’s Whalebone Junction is only a giant construction site, viewing the architectural renderings stimulates the imagination, creating visions of visitors and residents enjoying pier fishing, aquarium displays, classroom presentations, events and the traditional pier activities of eating and hanging out. The newly constructed Jennette’s Pier will be 1000-feet long, and the traditional pier house will be 16,000 square feet. Hemingway points out that the pier house was originally over land, but the new house will be over water. The pier and pier house are designed with the historic Nags Head Cottages in mind. In addition, they will be environmentally green and sustainable. 
“We’re looking for a Gold LEED certification,” says Hemingway. “There will be three wind turbines placed along the pier to provide power, solar panels, hydrogen fuel cells and other sustainable building components. The wastewater treatment building is already constructed and will feature a gray water re-use system on axis with the pier about 4/10th of a mile across South Virginia Dare Trail.”
The pier house will be two-stories high with an open atrium ceiling and constructed of traditional North Carolina building materials of pine and cedar shakes. The lower floor will have the pier, a tackle shop, concession stands and a classroom for the North Carolina Aquariums. The wall space flanking the stairs, which access the upper lobby, will display world-record fish that have been caught at the pier. The upper level will have an aquarium tank and an event room, which can seat 220 people with a catering kitchen and additional office space.
Hemingway notes that the structural demands of Jennette’s Pier are significant. “We set 60- to 80-foot-long pilings 30 to 40 feet deep,” he says. “The team heading up the pier construction is Clancy & Theys. Misener Marine, who work from the Caribbean, is building the actual pier.”
The historic commercial pier, the state’s oldest still in existence, offers multiple opportunities. Ivers cites a number of scientific initiatives the pier could accommodate, including wave studies, growth studies and materials testing. The renovation offers recreational tourism, eco-tourism and cultural tourism, huge revenue generators for the state of North Carolina. The fees from the use of Jennette’s Pier will accrue to the North Carolina Aquariums and be used to support the agency’s mission as educators and stewards of North Carolina’s marine resources. In addition, using sustainable building practices in concert with the environment in such a complex structure will provide new information and an example for future projects.
These seminal projects of the North Carolina Aquariums speak to the deep sense of place that resides in most North Carolinians. Jennette’s Pier will stand where it has always stood and will again serve, educate and entertain. The lure of the Oregon Inlet Life Saving Station is somewhat more elusive, though equally important.
Perhaps Thomas puts it best, “We have nothing else like it here. This unique, solitary structure in its almost desolate setting is as close as we can come to visualizing an important part of North Carolina’s coastal heritage.”
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