The park brings in between $500,000 and $600,000 a year in profit, money the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism uses to operate other state parks. But if Beaufort County owned the park, it could reinvest those dollars in a needed $9 million beach nourishment project, Newton said.
The idea is one he said county and state officials have discussed only recently and many details are unclear. Newton did not know how much buying the park would cost -- or even if the state is willing to sell it -- but said the county's land-buying dollars could be used to buy the property.
The county could borrow the $9 million needed for the nourishment project and pay off the debt using the park's annual profits, Newton said.
Or, if the state would agree to use revenues from Hunting Island for the beach project, the county would not need to acquire the park.
"The ultimate goal is somehow, through some mechanism, to make sure that facility is not lost," Newton said. "If it is producing a net profit, it seems to me those funds should be leveraged by someone to come up with a way to address this erosion problem."
Hunting Island, the only public beach in northern Beaufort County, is eroding at a rate of 15 feet a year. Bathrooms near the beach are in danger of being torn down by the tides, Newton said, and water is nearing a midisland lagoon that could become a river if the ocean reaches it. The park's historic lighthouse now sits only 400 feet from the water at high tide.
Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, said he and county officials are trying to find an inventive solution for helping slow the park's erosion. The state has only $3.2 million for the nourishment project, according to park officials, and funding from the federal government remains uncertain.
But using Hunting Island's revenues locally means the state parks department would have to find another way to pay for its other parks. Richardson said that would be a problem, given the state's budget shortfalls.
"We'd be pulling the jewel out of the crown," Richardson said.
The senator said he had sprung the idea on the department's director, Chad Prosser, only a few days ago, and at this point officials are just beginning to discuss it. Prosser was not available for comment Thursday.
"I would have to say that their inclination at this point is to keep it," Richardson said.
Ray Stevens, superintendent at Hunting Island State Park, said the beaches need to be nourished, but not at the expense of other state parks.
"To know that it would hurt the rest of the state, I think it would be a tough decision to make," Stevens said. "What's going to happen to those other parks? It's kind of like robbing Peter to pay Paul."
Hunting Island has been a state park since 1938. More than 1.2 million people visited it last year, bringing in $2.1 million to the state parks department. The park's beaches were last nourished in 1991.
Richardson said a decision to sell Hunting Island to Beaufort County ultimately would be up to the legislature.
The idea is not the first creative solution county and state officials have tried recently to secure money for Hunting Island's beach project. Beaufort County's state representatives successfully led an effort during House budget debates in March to take $5 million from the state Conservation Bank and earmark it for the project. However, senators transferred the money back to the Conservation Fund, saying the beach nourishment was an inappropriate use of the money.
Both the House and Senate passed a bill, sponsored by Richardson, that adds beach nourishment to the list of projects counties can pay for with a local 1 percent sales tax. The measure still needs the governor's signature.