Community Corner
Coast Guard Ceremony Honors Maritime Historian
The late William D. Wilkinson is recognized in an event at the historic U.S. Life Saving Station 30 in Ocean City.
The late William D. Wilkinson was honored during a Coast Guard ceremony at the U.S. Life Saving Station at Fourth Street and Atlantic Avenue on Friday afternoon.
The U.S. Coast Guard presented Wilkinson's widow, Dorothy Wilkinson, with the Meritorious Public Service Award and the Foundation for Coast Guard History Award. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Sara Wallace and Vice Adm. James Hill made the presentation.
Wilkinson was a maritime scholar who completed exhaustive research into coastal rescue craft and Coast Guard history. His book, American Coastal Rescue Craft, was published shortly before he died in 2009.
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After Friday afternoon's ceremony, attendees got a glimpse inside the Life Saving Station.
John Loeper, chairman of the nonprofit U.S. Life Saving Station 30, said the building will be restored to its 1906 appearance and design, and turned into a maritime museum.
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Inside the station, swollen floorboards, insulation hanging from damaged ceilings, loose wires and broken walls showed the magnitude of a restoration project currently underway.
The state for the restoration work.
