Rusty light tower off NC coast for sale

WILMINGTON — A rusty, abandoned light tower off the North Carolina coast is for sale and the online federal auction has attracted two mystery bidders dueling at more than $500,000 for the
relic.

The Frying Pan Shoals Light Tower is nearly 35 miles off the mouth of the Cape Fear River. The former Coast Guard outpost and weather station has been replaced by buoys.

Two bidders who go by the names “hunley” and “Big Gun” have raised their offers daily. The federal auction will continue as long as one raises their bid by $3,000 each day.

The Coast Guard and state officials have explored the idea of tearing down the tower and dropping it in the ocean as an artificial reef, but that would cost more than $3 million.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)