Unfortunate timing and a divided beach town placed the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History in an unexpected predicament during the last week of March.
Following receipt of a letter to vacate from the Town of Wrightsville Beach, the museum’s board of directors found themselves in the unenviable position of removing all of the exhibits from the restored Ewing-Bordeaux cottage and vacating within a very short window – the seven days before Easter Sunday.
The 1924-era Ewing-Bordeaux Cottage, located in the Wrightsville Beach historic square was gifted to the museum to be moved onto the square, at 303 West Salisbury St. in January 2018 from its original location at 405 N. Lumina Ave. The cottage, one of just six that survived the Great Fire of 1934, was built as a summer only beach cottage.
Funds were raised by the museum board to move and upfit the cottage for museum use before and after its move to the historic square as an addition to the Wrightsville Beach Museum.
The land that makes up the municipal complex had been given to the U.S. Department of the Interior in the early 1960s for seawater conversion testing. The land was conveyed back to the town in the 1980s with stipulations on its use — restricting it to municipal use, with a reverter clause: the right of the grantor to take possession of a property if certain conditions are not met. Legally the town had to own the buildings on the municipal land, so the house was sold to the town for a symbolic $1, with a nominal lease back to the museum.
The Ewing-Bordeaux Cottage was elevated, renovated and upgraded and the newly created space underneath the cottage was improved to be used for fundraising and special events. No monetary support came from the town government for the cottage. For 30 years the museum board has paid the water, sewer, trash, electricity and insurance for the Myers cottage, its primary location, and when the Bordeaux Cottage was added they began paying those services as well, the museum board says.
The cottage joined the headquarters for the N.C. Coastal Federation in the historic square. The Coastal Federation is housed in the refurbished Palmgren-O’Quinn Cottage that was moved to the site by barge and over land in 2013. The museum partnered with the Coastal Federation as they bring in groups all summer long for summer camps. The federation does the science and the museum the history.
Since the elevation, renovations, and improvements, estimated to be between $300,000 and $400,000 the Ewing-Bordeaux Cottage has housed the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History’s exhibits moved over from the historic 1907 Myers Cottage, where they were displayed since the museum opened in 1995.
The Bordeaux housed a chronological journey through the history of Wrightsville Beach — enhanced with early photos, video, and special memorabilia from the museum’s collection. The history included Captain Kidd, Joshua Wright, the early cottages, and a timeline of war on the coast from Civil War blockade runners to World War II German U-boats. Well-lit rooms housed displays with education on Trouble the Whale, the Lumina Pavilion, Jim Crow Era, Shell Island Beach and the fire of 1934.
Also significant, the cottage was the permanent home of the Waterman Hall of Fame, with displays of activities connected to living on the water. The room celebrated water sports and professions in the community while honoring those who made positive contributions to the way of life at the beach.
Board of Aldermen Mayor Pro Tem Hank Miller shared with the town during a meeting that neither of the museum’s lease renewals were signed, which, he said placed the museum in a position of month-to-month tenancy on both cottages.
Following a closed session by the town’s elected Board of Aldermen in March, the board voted unanimously in open session and then the town served the notice to the museum board on March 22, giving them until March 31 to vacate the Bordeaux cottage.
The eviction has split the town, torn between supporting the treasured Museum of History and the highly popular summer camp started in 2015 by the family of a Wrightsville Beach resident, the late Chris Stone. Originally a program of the museum, the marine science summer camp was allowed by the museum’s board of directors to use the lower level of the Bordeaux cottage rentfree for its adult and children’s summer camp sessions. The camp grew from two summer sessions to six. It acquired nonprofit status last fall. The location of the marsh adjacent to the cottage makes it an ideal location for Camp Chris Stone, directed by Rhesa Stone.
Supporters of the museum say that the camp had outgrown the use of space the museum had improved for its own special events and fundraising. Tension between the camp and museum board grew steadily.
The impetus for the physical eviction is said to have followed an appeal by Stone to the town’s aldermen at the monthly meeting following a vote by the museum’s board of directors to stop allowing Camp Chris Stone to use the ground level portion of the cottage for the summer camp.
Two months later there was still no resolution. The town told the museum board, to ‘let them know if you want to continue your lease on the Bordeaux Cottage and the Meyer Cottage.’ The museum board said, ‘yes, we do.’ Since then, the board says they have been waiting for the town to present them with the renewal leases for both cottages.
The issue has polarized the town.
“I find it’s my duty [now] to save the Meyers Cottage,” museum director Jan Brewington says.
On the night of an offsite fundraiser for the museum, May 11, the annual Wright Holman Shrimp-A-Roo, word passed from person to person that Camp Chris Stone’s Facebook page had posted that day the camp would be opening at the Bordeaux Cottage for summer 2024.
“When the board agreed to sell the cottage to the town, we never expected this. Some things are legal, but they are not right,” says Brewington. The town’s five-member elected Board of Alderman are Mayor Darrell Mills, Mayor Pro Tem Hank Miller, and aldermen Ken Dull, Zeke Partin and Jeff DeGroote.
The town’s interim manager is Planning and Parks Director Tony Wilson. Former town Manager Tim Owens retired abruptly in January 2024.
Fire Chief Josh Haraway was placed on administrative leave the same day Owens retired. Haraway then resigned in March 2024, two months after a no-confidence petition was circulated listing misconduct allegations, including that Ocean Rescue Director Dave Baker was out on leave “due to stress from a hostile work environment.”