Three visitor destinations in the Cape Fear area would receive millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements if the proposed Connect NC bond is approved later this year, according to N.C. Department of Cultural Resources secretary Susan Kluttz.  

Kluttz was in the area Monday and Tuesday promoting the bond proposal, which would provide funds for projects at Brunswick Town, North Carolina Battleship and Fort Fisher State Historic Site, among other projects across the state.

Connect NC, Kluttz (at right) explained during a Tuesday morning stop at the battleship, is really two bond issues under one banner. Roughly half of the $2.85 billion total would support infrastructure needs in cultural resources, education and public health; the other half would fund transportation-related projects. The secretary said her department would receive about $75 million of the $1.4 billion infrastructure monies.  

“There would be no tax increase” to support the Connect NC bond issue, Kluttz said. “Currently, interest rates are historically low, so the timing is good. We are eager to work with the General Assembly to make this a reality, but we need your help. The General Assembly must approve this by the end of the month in order for the bond issue to be on the November ballot. We are confident that, if we give the citizens a chance to vote on the bond issue, they will pass it.”

Kluttz visited the battleship Tuesday morning to tout the impact of $11.5 million of bond money included in the plan to build a new 20,000-square-foot visitor’s center at the ship’s main entrance and to improve the site's parking lot.

Under the proposal, the new visitor’s center would be ADA-compliant and would include an indoor/outdoor café, she said, adding that it would also permit the expansion of exhibits.

Terry Bragg, executive director of the North Carolina Battleship, said at a news conference Tuesday that replacement of the visitor’s center was essential because the current space is 30 years old and, having been in a marine environment for that length of time, is “beyond repair.”

If approved, the project would be part of the major renovation of the whole battleship site, which includes significant repairs to the ship’s hull, construction of a new dock area and ADA-compliant walkway around the ship and creation of a nature trail. Fundraising is underway for the renovation, and several major gifts have paid for the walkway, nature trail and new docks.

Citing a continual increase in visitation to the battleship, Bragg said the site is an economic driver for the area.

“Once the docks expand, and the walkway and nature trail are built, we expect even more visitors,” he said.

Later Tuesday, Kluttz stopped at Fort Fisher, which she said she is using as the illustration for the many historic sites across the state that need mechanical, electrical and roofing repairs. Rather than addressing these needs piecemeal, she said, the bond issue, if passed, would allow these repairs to be done at one time, thus realizing cost efficiencies.

From the $1.4 billion, $11 million has been slated for roof repairs and $24 million for mechanical and electrical repairs at Fort Fisher and other historic sites in North Carolina.

Monday, Kluttz visited Brunswick Town in Brunswick County, where, she noted Tuesday, some “important artifacts” have just been discovered. The site, under the bond package, would get $3.5 million for the “design and installation of an innovative new shore protection system for the site’s entire riverfront,” according to department officials.

“We’re about to lose that historic site to the Cape Fear River through erosion,” Kluttz said Tuesday. “This stabilization project is the first of its kind in the nation.”