Meanwhile, Kaplan and Fox are working on identifying and applying for other grants to finance the project.  Several have been submitted already.

And they are continuing to work with the community on enlisting support for the center.  Kaplan said they are getting good reaction to an outreach program to get the support of local businesses.

There have been some individual and business donations, and locals and visitors can find out about supporting the center financially through such things as buying a lifetime pass to fish on the pier and volunteer opportunities.  Volunteers are needed and welcomed.

Earlier this year, Kaplan said that the project would be built in phases.  At that time, he envisioned that the pier house might be built first to ensure a steady stream of income to finance the pier.

Now, he thinks the parking area and bathhouse could come first in Phase I.

It will depend, he said, on financing and the type of grants the center can obtain.

In some ways, he says, Phase 2 is moving faster than Phase I.  “There is a lot of interest in the educational component,” he says.

Phase 2 leaped ahead with the Brownings’ property donation, and Kaplan said the center is looking at buying other properties and buildings on the soundside.

Although if you drive into Hatteras village on Highway 12, about all you can see are shops and homes on the west side. Behind those shops and homes are a rich network of interconnecting creeks and spectacular marshes, perfect for exploring and teaching about coastal ecology.

Kaplan still seems confident.

“This is a big project,” he says. “You can’t just go out on Day 1 and expect money.”

The good news, he says, is the ocean center is “way ahead” of where he thought it would be a year ago.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To read two previous stories in Island Free Press about the plans for the Hatteras Island Ocean Center, go to http://islandfreepress.org/2011Archives/11.14.2011-HatterasIslandOceanCenterIsANewProjectThatWouldBeAFishingPierAndMuchMore.html and
http://islandfreepress.org/2012Archives/03.21.2012-UPDATEPlansForTheHatterasIslandOceanCenterMovingForward.html

To check on updates on the ocean center and see site plans and an architect’s rendering of the pier and pier house, go to the website, www.hioceancenter.org.