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Volunteers ask Hilton Head council to repurpose Wild Wings building as Sea Turtle Patrol hub, offer funding
Summary
Sea Turtle Patrol volunteers urged the council to use the vacant Wild Wings building as a home base for patrol and beach-operations services and said a family foundation has offered $500,000 toward refurbishment. No formal council action was taken at the March 18 meeting.
Sea Turtle Patrol volunteers and program leaders asked the Town Council of Hilton Head Island on March 18 to consider repurposing the now-vacant Wild Wings building as a permanent home for the group’s operations and for a beach-operations satellite office.
Brian Tiresi, who identified himself as a Sea Turtle Patrol volunteer, outlined the program’s history on the island and credited recent local ordinances and hotel participation for improved nesting habitat and public awareness. “We have been very encouraged,” Tiresi said, noting that the group has developed programs including a Sea Turtle Friendly certified-hotel program and has hosted the Southeastern Regional Sea Turtle Network’s annual meeting.
Amber (last name not provided in the public record), speaking later in the public-comment period, told council members that a family foundation has offered to provide $500,000 toward refurbishment if the town can make the building available. “I don’t need it to be the Taj Mahal. I just need walls to welcome the public,” Amber said, adding that the site could also host beach ambassador operations and a sharing-shack function that fell through the cracks of recent planning.
Volunteer speakers said the group lacks a permanent home—currently storing equipment in a tent near Islanders Beach—and that a staffed space at the Wild Wings location would allow Sea Turtle Patrol to expand public outreach, support hotel and visitor stewardship, and assist beach operations such as volunteer ambassadorship.
Council members did not take formal action on the request at the March 18 meeting. The petitioners asked for town consideration of using part of the existing building rather than converting the site entirely to additional parking, and they emphasized the conservation and visitor-education benefits of a staffed presence on the beach.
No specific timeline, lease proposal or formal town staff recommendation was provided during the public comment.
