Turtle hospital needs room to grow

Jean Beasley's heart breaks every time she has to turn away a patient from her Topsail Beach sea turtle hospital.

While rare, the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center sometimes has to deny care to an ailing turtle because the hospital has only enough space and resources to care for about 20 turtles a year, Beasley said.

"We usually only turn away one or two turtles during the years we're filled to capacity," said Beasley, who founded the hospital in 1997. "We try to work with agencies to find other places for those sea turtles."

Beasley is hoping she'll never have to turn away another patient after a new sea turtle hospital is built in the town of Surf City in the next year or two.

The proposed $1 million facility, to be built on 4 acres near the town's community center off J.H. Batts Road, will replace the 850-square-foot hospital in Topsail Beach about 7 miles away, Beasley said.

"We've simply outgrown our current facilities," Beasley said. "When all our volunteers are in a room working on a sea turtle, it can get pretty cramped in there with all that equipment."

The new facility will be 16,000 to 18,000 square feet, including the hospital and an education wing for tour groups.

The Topsail Beach location sees more than 25,000 visitors a year, Beasley said, a figure she expects to double after the first year the new hospital opens.

Beasley said the facility will offer more activities for the public. She would like to restore nearby wetlands and build a walking trail where visitors can learn about native plants and animals.

"There are a lot of students who don't know about things such as Venus' flytraps," Beasley said. "I'm hoping they'll become educated about those things and other creatures that are native to this part of North Carolina."

Beasley hopes to break ground on the new facility by the end of 2008, but she is still working to get the proper permits needed to begin construction.

She already has applied to be annexed into Surf City, she said. Mayor Zander Guy said a public hearing has been scheduled for the town council meeting next month so the board can vote on the request.

Beasley said she hasn't decided what she will do with the Topsail Beach building once the new hospital opens, but she would like to convert the old facility into a rescue center for beached dolphins and small whales.

She will have to work with the town of Topsail Beach, which owns the land, to determine the building's future.

Tyra M. Vaughn: 343-2070

tyra.vaughn@starnewsonline.com