Aki Kato and Friends of Hunting Island

Lead The Way To An Artist-Inspired Visitors Center Renovation

story by JENNIFER BROWN-CARPENTER  photos by JOHN WOLLWERTH

 

It was after hours and the Hunting Island Visitors Center was dimly lit. One could barely make out the pictures on the walls. Then Park Manager J.W. Weatherford pushed open a large door and I stepped into a brightly lit room filled with artwork reflective of the state park: a huge mural and animal sculptures. The room was filled with light.
The nearly finished renovations, three years in the making, are thanks to the Friends of Hunting Island. Friends of Hunting Island (FOHI) is a nonprofit organization that brings to life ambitious goals for Hunting Island State Park.

While the park receives state funding for day-to-day operations, the “extras” come from Friends. They raise money to design and print brochures, add seating areas and pitch in to keep trails clear. The Friends built a playground at the park that did not survive Hurricane Matthew, but there are plans to rebuild.

Each January the park manager provides the organization a list of what the park needs for the upcoming year and the group works to make it happen.

Carol Corbin, director of communications and vice president of FOHI, said conversations about updating the Visitors Center began nearly three years ago. The goal was to update the 1980s look, which included static displays, and black and white photographs. To fund the extensive renovations, FOHI sought grants from the state departments of Transportation, and Parks, Recreation, and Tourism.

For inspiration, Carol visited the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston, the State Museum in Columbia, the Smithsonian National History Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Savannah Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center. She said the most important aspect was making sure the Center was bright and inviting. The Friends wanted the Center to be a destination as well as an enticement for visitors to explore every part of the park.

Renovations began in March and involved taking much of the center down to the studs. Crews pulled up the carpet, removed the sheetrock and put in all-new lighting. In May, Beaufort resident and artist Aki Kato started painting the mural that now graces the walls of the updated Center.

When he first saw the center, Aki was overwhelmed by the size of the building. Seeing that the room was divided by panels, he did the same with his mural. He painted scenes of the salt marsh, the maritime forest, the beach, and the “boneyard,” an area of the shoreline covered with wave-washed fallen trees. Carol suggested that Aki add as many animals to the mural as possible, and for him to hide some of them so children could seek them out when they came to visit.

Kelly Richard of Hilton Head, a paper mache sculptor, is working to fill the room with sculptures of animals who live in the park. Her list includes a wood stork, a pelican, an osprey, an eagle, and a loggerhead sea turtle.

Merlin Redfern, a retired professor of architecture, and a former board member of FOHI built a small swing bridge replica of the historic Harbor River Bridge. The real one will soon be replaced by a new bridge and the Friends of Hunting Island wanted to make sure the swing bridge was featured prominently at the center. After all, it was what enabled there to be a public park in the first place.

The swing bridge was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, allowing access to the then-new Hunting Island State Park. It’s a key part of the park’s history and will be a focal point of the center.

The replica, which will open and close just like the real bridge, will reside next to the section of the mural that will include the bridge.

Next year, the Center will add a virtual lighthouse so those who can’t climb the stairs of the lighthouse can see the view from the top, too. The virtual lighthouse will show a nearly 360-degree video of the view at sunrise, mid-day, sunset, and night. It will be almost identical to the lighthouse, down to the metal railing and a light that turns on and off.

Renovations are slated to be completed next year, but come see the work so far. It’s truly something special. Spend time looking for the animals painted in the mural, examine the paper mache sculpture animals, and enjoy the mini-theater that will show movies during the day for day visitors and campers.

You might even catch a showing of “Finding Nemo.”