Perhaps a North Carolina light station could be yours

The Diamond Shoals Light Tower off Cape Hatteras is being auctioned as surplus property, and the real estate mantra about "location, location, location" in this case could instead be "you can't get there from here."

The light station, called a "Texas tower" because it resembles an oil platform, is about 13 miles off the North Carolina Outer Banks, in the heart of the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

An inspection team in 2010 said that the tower's deck could be unsafe for helicopter landings and that the stairwell from the waterline to the deck was -damaged, making it inaccessible to boaters.

"Therefore," the General Services Administration said in an auction posting, "it is not possible for potential purchasers to inspect the tower."

For those undeterred by rust, holes in the floor or missing steel panels, sealed bids will be accepted until Aug. 31. The minimum bid is $15,000.

For the right price, buyers will get the platform, which includes a living area of 5,000 square feet divided into five bedrooms, a kitchen, office and storage space.

This is at least the second auction of the Diamond Shoals light; no acceptable offers were received previously, according to Saudia Muwwakkil, a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration, which disposes of surplus property for the government.

The tower was scheduled to be scrapped, and a buoy with a flashing red light has replaced the platform as a navigational aid.

"Several years ago, the structure got to the point where it was unreasonably dangerous for our folks to access it," said John Walters, waterways management section chief for the Coast Guard Fifth District in Portsmouth, which maintains lighthouses. "The flight deck was no longer certified for helicopter landings. The decision was made not to invest anymore funds in it."

The shallow water of Diamond Shoals was marked by a series of lightships for years.

The last one was replaced in 1966 by the Texas tower. The Coast Guard stationed crews on the platform for 11 years, until the light was automated.

A similar tower, at Frying Pan Shoals off Cape Fear, was also going to be scrapped, until software engineer Richard Neal of Charlotte, N.C., paid $85,000 for it three years ago.

"I went out to it and was really, really quite astonished," Neal said in a telephone interview. "It was in better shape than I expected. I’ve seen the interior pictures of Diamond Shoals, and it is not in very good shape."

Neal offers the eight bedrooms in the Frying Pan Light for rent. Most takers are fishermen or divers drawn to the sea life that clusters around the tower's legs, sunk into the sea floor some 30 miles off the southern coast of North Carolina.

"It's a classic MacGyver type of place," he said. "Always something to work on. It's rugged."

Neal said he's spent about $100,000 on his light tower. He estimates it will take three to five times that amount to make it "nice."

The inspection report for Diamond Shoals estimates it will need at least $2.3 million in repairs. Still, bidders are expected to step up.

"The Diamond Shoals Light Tower could be purchased to meet a variety of uses," Muwwakkil wrote.

Other more traditional lighthouses in the region are already in private hands, as the Coast Guard finds easier and less expensive ways to keep ships from running into trouble.

The Point No Point lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay off Maryland is listed on the General Services Administration's website as going up for auction this summer.

The only other Texas tower platform still in the Coast Guard's Fifth District inventory is the Chesapeake Light, which stands in the Atlantic about 14 miles off Virginia Beach. A federal agency is said to be negotiating to take over that platform, but Muwwakkil could not confirm that.

"We do expect to have a public sale in the future," she said in a telephone call.

Under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, public agencies and nonprofit groups wanting lighthouses for public use are eligible to get them free, in exchange for maintenance and repairs.

Would-be private owners must bid. If the lighthouse is still used as a navigation aid, the buyers must allow the Coast Guard access for maintenance.

If the Diamond Shoals Light isn't sold at auction, other options for disposal will be explored, Muwwakkil wrote.

Condition aside, the platform offers great fishing and a night sky free of light pollution.

Neal said he was offered a chance to bid on Diamond Shoals.

"I’m smart enough not to buy a second one," he said.

Diane Tennant, 757-446-2478, [email protected]

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