The Boardwalk Is Getting a Winter. Here's How Downtown Carolina Beach Changes This Fall

In early September, Mayor Lynn Barbee summed up the Boardwalk in one sentence: "This is the center hub of our town, as people know they come here for the fireworks show, the music, and bingo, there's events here almost every night in the summer time."

"In the summer time" is the key part. Anyone who has walked Cape Fear Boulevard on a January weeknight knows how much that sentence leaves out. This fall a handful of decisions, some made by the town, some by the Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce and some by private owners, all aim at the same gap. The Boardwalk is moving out of private hands and away from a summer built around the rides. It's moving toward public ownership and a calendar that keeps going after Labor Day. Some of what's leaving is beloved, and much of what's coming isn't designed yet.

Saturday, Oct. 3 has two goodbyes and a reggae show

The first change arrives this weekend. SeaWitch Tiki Bar at 227 Carolina Beach Ave. N. has been open since 1995, and its last day is Saturday, Oct. 3. Before that, SeaWitch is hosting an "OG Bartender Night" on Oct. 1, which brings back bartenders from years past. A public auction follows on Sunday, Oct. 4.

The same Saturday, the Chamber's Carolina Beach MusicFest: Fall Reggae fills the Boardwalk with Ballyhoo, Signal Fire and Cape Fear Rising. Gates open at 10 a.m. and the music runs from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 3 is also the last day of this season's Saturday market at Carolina Beach Lake Park, which runs 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. That makes it a full day downtown, with a last drink at SeaWitch at the end of it.

The SeaWitch name isn't going away. Jenni and Alex Gilewicz sold the property in 2023 to Virginia Beach-based Harmony Hospitality. The company plans a 140-room hotel where the bar stands now. The current parking area would become a two-story structure with parking, a 4,000-square-foot ballroom, and a new SeaWitch restaurant on the second level overlooking the ocean. Construction should start soon after the closing. The owners hope to open the restaurant in 2027, though the timeline is still being finalized. They say an indoor/outdoor bar, a live music stage and the ahi tuna nachos are meant to make the move. The dolphin statue is part of the new project too.

The harder loss is on the wall. Sharon Dowell's "Record Weekend," the beach music mural on the building, is one of Carolina Beach's murals. It can't stay in place during construction. SeaWitch plans to preserve it as photographic artwork at the new location and hopes to work with Dowell on another mural. A farewell celebration for the mural was scheduled for Sept. 30.

The town now owns the Boardwalk entrance

SeaWitch is a private redevelopment on the north end. The bigger shift is happening at the Boardwalk entrance itself. On Sept. 24 the Town of Carolina Beach closed on nine Boardwalk-area parcels for $12 million. The purchase came out of a settlement with Carolina Beach Land Holdings LLC over a sidewalk easement. It was paid for partly with a $10 million bank loan approved by the Local Government Commission on Sept. 1, with the rest drawn from fund balance and room occupancy tax reserves.

Five days later, the New Hanover Community Endowment awarded the town a provisional $3.5 million grant for what it's calling the Carolina Beach Coastal Park and Event Stage. According to Barbee, most of that money goes toward roughly $6 million in park design and construction. The early ideas include an event stage, green space and family activities.

"We would like to have a place for kids down there so that families, when they're hanging out and listening to music, their kids can go play, whether that's a playground or a splash pad." — Mayor Lynn Barbee, speaking to Port City Daily

Barbee has also been clear about what the park isn't meant to be. "We're not going to create a park and say: 'How do we charge enough people to come to our park to pay for it?'" he told Port City Daily. "That's not how public assets work. It's an amenity for the public."

That's why the purchase matters for everyday downtown life more than any single closing does. Preliminary plans from 2017, obtained by Port City Daily, floated mixed-use buildings of up to four stories along the Boardwalk entrance. The central business district allows 50 feet by right. Those plans never went forward. With the land now owned by the town, the entrance stays open ground.

Three practical effects follow.

1. The rides will most likely move. The seasonal amusement rides sit at 1 Cape Fear Blvd., rented by SECOF Construction. Barbee told WECT they "will most likely not be on this property next year." He added that "there's plenty of vacant property around" and the town would entertain ideas if the operators want to relocate. Nothing has been finalized.
2. The parking lots stay for now. Under a leaseback, Carolina Beach Land Holdings pays the town $1,000 a month to keep renting four of the parcels, which operate as private parking lots, through September 2028.
3. The park will take a while. Barbee estimated construction could take about two years. The town still hopes to buy one more parcel in the gazebo stage area for $350,000 and plans to apply to the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.

Seven weeks of ice between Silver Dollar and Hurricane Alley's

The park is years away, but this year's winter plan is already funded. At its Sept. 8 meeting, Town Council approved $50,000 in seed funding from Tourism Development Authority funds for a temporary ice rink proposed by the Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce. It will sit on the lot between Carolina Beach Avenue South and Cape Fear Boulevard, between Silver Dollar and Hurricane Alley's.

Chamber President Jim DeGilio explained the reasoning plainly. "As the Chamber of Commerce, our goal is to help our businesses through a very slow period of time here, and we think that this seven-week program could be an incredible boost to our local businesses here." The Chamber hopes profits from the rink will fund it in later years.

The details published so far:

• Season: Nov. 27 through Jan. 3, open to all ages. Setup starts Nov. 16 and teardown runs through Jan. 8.
• Wednesday and Thursday: 3 to 9 p.m.
• Friday and Saturday: noon to 11 p.m.
• Sunday: 1 to 9 p.m.
• Monday and Tuesday: special events. Figure skating exhibitions, lessons and private parties are among the ideas being discussed.

DeGilio also said the Chamber is in early talks with the Carolina Hurricanes, which could bring a replica Stanley Cup for photos and players for autographs. The coverage of the council vote didn't include admission prices.

Opening day lines up neatly. Nov. 27 is the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is also the night of Island of Lights: Lighting at the Lake. Festivities there begin at 6 p.m., and the 2026 lighting time is still listed as to be determined. The rink is open until 11 that night, so the lake lighting and a first skate fit into the same evening.

The off-season calendar around downtown

With the rink in place, downtown's fall and holiday schedule runs almost every weekend from now to New Year's.

Two newer stops sit right along the downtown loop. Carolina Beach Market & Deli opened June 5 at 257 Cape Fear Blvd., in the former Sea Merchants space. It combines a deli, a boutique grocery, a coffee shop and an ice cream stand. Rutt's Cinnamon Rolls opened in April at 105 Carolina Beach Ave. N. On parade night or a Sunday skate, both are a short walk from the rink lot.

What's still undecided

For all the announcements, several of the biggest questions about downtown are still open:

• The park design. The town says the grant lets it start next-step planning, including public input on the design. The announcement didn't include a meeting date or survey. Council members described the next two years as the time to draw up plans with input from residents.
• Where the rides land. "Most likely" not on the town's property next year is as far as the mayor has gone.
• The rink's future. This year is seed-funded. Whether it comes back depends on whether it earns enough to pay for itself.
• The new SeaWitch. 2027 is the owners' target, with the schedule still being worked out.

The mural is the part I'm watching most closely. I spent years on the founding board of the Carolina Beach Mural Project, and "Record Weekend" coming down is a real loss for downtown, even with a photographic version and possibly a new Dowell piece on the way. Whatever form the town's public input takes, it will shape what the Boardwalk entrance looks like for a long time. If you'd like a heads-up when the town opens that process, or want to talk through what all this means for your corner of the island, I'm always glad to hear from neighbors. Let's Connect with Kristen Dunn.