About 25 miles southeast of Southport, the Frying Pan Tower marks the shallows around Frying Pan Shoals. Standing an impressive 80 feet high, it replaced a light ship in 1966 and was operated by the Coast Guard as an aid to navigation until about eight years ago, when buoys and GPS technology made it unnecessary.

The site is a popular fishing spot, with bluewater fish like tuna, king mackeral, and dolphin  and dozens of species of tropical fish. Popular with divers for some of the best spearfishing and lobstering in the area, the tower was turned over to the GSA in 2008 to auction it off. The first winning bidder was a company that planned to use the tower for a sport fishing group and a dive charter business, as well as possible fisheries and oceanographic research with two or three universities. Their purchase - $515,000 - ultimately did not pan out (sorry for the pun) because they were unable to inspect the structure in a timely manner.

The next auction was held in May, 2010 and the winning bidder - Richard Neal - was a Charlotte entrepreneur who plans to restore the Tower as a sort of floating bed and breakfast for fishing and dive charter businesses. His bid - $85,000 - was significantly less than the first bidder's price. Estimates for his restoration, however, range in the $1-2 million range.

The structure has two floors and 5,000 square feet, including five bedrooms, a kitchen, office, storage area, recreation area and toilet facilities. The Coast Guard commissioned a structural inspection last year and found it to be in basically sound condition.

Neal has received lots of enthusiastic response about his project, including volunteers and donations. The Frying Pan Tower could become one of our most unusual tourist attractions.