Boathouse Creek Park Opened Without Restrooms. Its Octagon Is Going Up Now.

A block foundation now sits beside the Masonic Avenue entrance to Boathouse Creek Park in Cedar Point. It's the base for an eight-sided building with three restrooms, a maintenance shed and a porch that wraps all the way around, the first permanent comfort station on a 56-acre park the town set aside mostly to stay wild.

This would have been the fall the park got its biggest crowd. The CedarFest committee canceled the 2026 festival because of inclement weather. Vendors scheduled for this year get a free spot at the next one, which is set for October 16, 2027. So the biggest change at the park this season is the building itself. For anyone who walks these trails on a regular weekday, it's also the change that will matter longer.

The Park Opened With a Pack-It-Out Rule

Boathouse Creek Park started out small on purpose. The town bought the land from the North Carolina Masons in April 2019 for $2.8 million. The plan was passive recreation plus a stormwater buffer between nearby homes and the White Oak River, on a tract that had been zoned for multi-family development.

When Coastal Review covered the opening in November 2019, the setup was bare. A gate opened at 8 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m. There were five to eight loosely marked parking spaces plus two accessible spaces. The dock stayed closed to the public for safety reasons. The outlet reported that there would be no restrooms and no trash cans, and that hikers were asked to pack out whatever they brought in.

Each step since then has made it a little easier to spend time there. In 2019 the town was applying for a state grant to build a kayak launch, a dock and a permeable parking lot. By the time Cedar Point adopted its comprehensive land use plan, the park's listed features included walking trails, kayak launches, a dock and open space, and it was hosting town events like CedarFest. The restroom building is the next step in the same direction. According to the Carteret County News-Times, Town Manager David Rief told commissioners in July 2025 that the project was meant to encourage use of the waterfront park and to answer complaints about its lack of restrooms.

What's Going Up by the Gate

The building has eight sides, and it holds:

• Three ADA-accessible unisex restrooms
• A maintenance shed for park upkeep
• A wraparound porch you can reach by stairs or by ramp
• A composite roof in place of the wood in the original plan
• Security equipment, including video cameras and the IT gear to run them

The last two items explain why the cost came in above the grant. The town designed the project around a $305,000 Public Beach and Waterfront Access Grant from the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, which it was awarded the August before the bid vote. The early estimate was based on a building without those additions. Rief explained the math to commissioners in the News-Times account: "Because of the way our grant is set up, we will receive up to $305,000 in total for the project cost."

Four contractors bid, with prices from $329,472 to $485,055. Right Coast Contracting of Morehead City had the lowest bid and the latest finish date. Three of the four bidders had proposed finishing before CedarFest. Under the grant, any amount above $305,000 comes out of town funds. Commissioners voted unanimously on June 23, 2026, to take the lowest price, on the condition that the contractor provide a one-year warranty and obtain a bid bond. Right Coast had also helped the town prepare the original grant estimate the year before.

Looking back, choosing the slower bid had one clear effect. A building that three bidders proposed to finish before CedarFest is instead going up during the off-season, in the same fall the festival was canceled for weather.

Where Construction Stands

The town's meeting minutes give the progress so far:

1. June 23, 2026. Commissioners award the contract to Right Coast Contracting.
2. August 25, 2026. Rief reports that construction has started and the block foundation is being laid.
3. September 22, 2026. Rief's report says the building is "coming along" with the foundation in place, and the request for proposals for the park entrance has gone out.
4. December 1. The completion date Right Coast estimated in its proposal. The contract itself allows 180 days from the town's notice to proceed.

The Cedar Point Board of Commissioners next meets on Tuesday, November 24, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. It's the next regular meeting on the town's calendar.

Why It Has Eight Sides

The shape refers to the land's past. The News-Times reported that the octagonal design nods to the neighboring "Octagon House," built by Edward Hill. The North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office's 2012 Carteret County survey describes it as an octagonal plantation house that Hill built between 1855 and 1859. The house and its grounds are not part of the park. When Cedar Point bought the Masonic property, the park took in all of the remaining undeveloped land except that historic house.

The park's own history goes back further. The town's page on Boathouse Creek Park says King George III granted the land to Thomas Lee in 1713. It was once a Native American campground, and later a plantation with a sawmill and salt works. The name comes from the ferry that once carried people and animals across the White Oak River to the Swansboro side, and from the boathouse on the creek where the ferries were kept. The new octagon takes its shape from the house that stands next to the park and dates from that plantation era.

The Entrance and the Garden Come Next

The building is the first part of a larger change at the gate. On August 25, Rief showed commissioners a $55,000 quote for paving and concrete work at the park entrance. That amount was high enough to require a request for proposals, and the board chose to keep the bidding local and informal. The board's October 27 agenda included park entrance bids, along with an estimate dated October 22, 2026, that put removal and replacement paving and concrete work at 401 Masonic Avenue at $49,500.

The board also picked a landscaping plan at the same August meeting. Commissioners chose the second of two options for the area around the restrooms, the entrance and the gate. Wax myrtles and evergreens will go along the fence line and are expected to hide it over time. A garden area near the restrooms is planned to have something in bloom all year, with signs naming each plant species. Rief said the town may hire out part of the landscaping and do the rest with its own staff.

Plant labels near the restrooms fit a park the town describes as a place to see and photograph Cedar Point's native plants and animals. The new section at the entrance will show visitors some of the plants they're about to walk past on the trails.

The Park This Winter

Away from the construction, the park is the same 56 acres. It protects 18 acres of coastal wetlands and more than 3,500 feet of shoreline along the White Oak River and Boathouse Creek. The town lists hiking, walking, kayaking and fishing as its uses. The town also says fox squirrels, deer, turkeys and a wide range of birds have come back to the property since it was left in its natural state. The trails opened in 2019 as three trails with reflective markers in different colors: one mile, 0.8 mile and 0.4 mile.

That gives you three trail lengths to pick from on a cold-weather walk. If Right Coast's December 1 estimate holds, the park will start 2027 with restrooms it has never had, well ahead of CedarFest's return on October 16, 2027.

If you live in Cedar Point and want to know how projects like the Boathouse Creek Park upgrades factor into home values near the White Oak River, Homes By Holly is glad to walk through what's changing near your street. Schedule a Free Consultation and we'll talk about your corner of Cedar Point.