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Mattamuskeet Restoration Plans to Receive Expedited State Review
Mattamuskeet Restoration Plans to Receive Expedited State Review
RALEIGH, N.C. (Jan. 18, 2007) – The State Construction Office agreed this week to expedite the design reviews for the Mattamuskeet Lodge stabilization and restoration project – a move that could allow structural repairs to begin as early as May 2008, Gordon Myers, deputy director of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, said today.
Myers, who is monitoring the project in collaboration with the Department of Cultural Resources, said the project designer is in the process of scheduling a site visit to the lodge with state officials, and will hold a community meeting sometime in February to update local residents on the progress of the project and to invite input. Wildlife Resources Commission staff cleaned up the building, removed the furniture, and conducted inventory and storage of historic artifacts in the lodge. Selective demolition work inside the lodge will be finished in March.
“The cultural and civic loss suffered by the residents and friends of Hyde County when Mattamuskeet Lodge was deemed unsafe – coupled with the serious risk that the structurally compromised building faces each hurricane season – requires that we act as quickly as possible to complete this project,” Myers said. “But considering the rich and unique history of this building, we must also exercise considerable care and judgment as we move forward with the restoration of this historic treasure.”
After Congress offered the federally owned lodge to North Carolina last year, the state legislature passed a law in April providing that once the restoration work was complete, the Wildlife Resources Commission would manage the operations of the lodge. State and federal agencies completed the transfer of ownership to the state on June 22.
In November, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations approved $1.5 million in state funds for stabilization and preliminary design work. Senator Marc Basnight, who serves as Co-Chair of the Commission, secured the funding.
“The Mattamuskeet Lodge has been the heart of the Hyde County community,” Basnight said. “It is a true historical and cultural gem for this area, and I look forward to seeing it restored as quickly as possible so that it can again be enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.”