More than a beach gateway: Holly Ridge working to form new identity

Holly Ridge's seal welcoming thousands of drivers daily contains military planes from the old historic Camp Davis flying over a wave of the nearby Atlantic Ocean.

Underneath it says "Gateway To Topsail Island."

As the mayor of the Onslow County town, Jeff Wenzel knows it gives an entry for tourists to see the beach. But town officials are working to let the world know that there's more to Holly Ridge — and those words could be removed soon as the town moves forward with a rebranding project.

"That served us well," Wenzel said about the slogan. "Now, we are the one that's surging with growth. We'll always be associated with Topsail Island, but we feel like we'll developing our own identity as well. We want to rebrand our town and not be a gateway to Topsail Island and be something unique in itself, realizing that we are really close to Topsail Island and military base Camp Lejeune, too."

Incorporated in 1941, Holly Ridge's population increased from less than 30 people to 110,000 after a U.S. Army anti-aircraft artillery training facility was built. After it shut down following World War II, it shrunk to hundreds.

More: As Holly Ridge sees massive growth, it's missing a grocery store. Here's the hold up.

It's now going through a second resurgence. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town's population increased from 1,268 to more than 4,000 in 2020 — a 228.9% increase.

Creating energy

Under the leadership of facilitator Scott Franko, a rebranding committee of residents and business owners was formed to come up with a new slogan, town seal and an associated logo. He said one of the unique aspects of Holly Ridge is that it's mostly occupied by mostly residents and not tourists, unlike other nearby town.

"It's about building energy and pride," Franko said. "It's about being attractive. As we look at the demographics of where the growth is coming from, there are a lot of millennials. Most people that live in Holly Ridge are in their 20s and 30s. It's just not military. You have a lot of young families."

Franko, a marketing director for Treasure Realty and economic development chair of the Greater Topsail Area Chamber, has experience working on several rebranding projects for other municipalities, organizations and events.

The committee will be challenged with honoring the history, paying homage to the military past and present, while embracing economic growth such as the Camp Davis Industrial Park, now at 110 acres and named after the former military installation.

More: Development group welcomes Blue Water Candy, Atlantic Seafood to industrial park

Tenants include Cabinets and Granite Solutions, MNC Metal Design, Above Topsail and Gulf Stream Steel. Onslow Bay Boatworks also relocated to the industrial park to build high-end fishing boats. Another tenant, Blue Water Candy makes fishing lures.

Atlantic Seafood is in the process of moving to Holly Ridge after being in Pender County for many years.

In all, Camp Davis brings more than 250 jobs to the town. Developments for phase two is forecasted to create another 235 new jobs.

Holly Ridge officially purchased 60 acres for phase two of the park's growth and officials are looking at the possibility of adding 300 acres for three more phases.

"The region is growing and Holly Ridge is growing," he said. "But Holly Ridge is at the heart of the region. It's got the best of two worlds. You can't develop economically in every single area of economics when you're on the island because there's only so much land and it's pretty saturated with homes."

More: Small town, big plans: Holly Ridge adds second phase of industrial park

While taking about the identity, Wenzel said Holly Ridge is more than just another place to pass by while going to Topsail Island, which includes the towns of North Topsail Beach in Onslow County, and Surf City and Topsail Beach in Pender County.

Holly Ridge is home to dining places such as Smokey Tony's BBQ and the Hollands Shelter Creek restaurant. He said the Morris Landing preserve is a great place to enjoy nature and learn about the Coastal Federation's living shoreline project, along with other parks.

"The town's municipal park is a wide open space for exercising and is located next to Liberty Park, which honors veterans and provides a space to relax and reflect," he said.

'Not just a stepping stone'

Wendy Kilgore moved to Holly Ridge in 2019 with her husband after living in the Chicago area. She lives in the Summerhouse on Everett Bay community with different age groups. Like her, many of her neighbors came from other areas like New Jersey, New York and Maryland for warmer weather, friendlier people, and a change of pace.

"They were kind of tired of the busy lifestyle," Kilgore said.

The Kilgore family discovered Topsail Island in 2006 while taking vacations. She fell in love with the area and knew she wanted to live in a small town next to the ocean. But that came with a higher cost of living and traffic from tourists.

"What's the next best thing we could do? That's what brought us to Holly Ridge," she said.

Kilgore enjoys being close to the beach, but she wants more services and shopping options like Target and Trader Joe's to save a trip to other cities. She joined the rebranding committee to help improve the living experience for residents without pushing residents out who have lived in Holly Ridge for many years.

"I know that's part of the fear — getting priced out of the area," she said.

In addition to having the options of big box stores, Kilgore said a lot of the boutique stores are in Surf City, but it would be nice to have some closer in Holly Ridge, along with improved infrastructure and town amenities.

Kilgore also signed up to help form a new identity for Holly Ridge. At the moment, she said many people see it as a small town tucked between larger cities and close to the beach.

"We're not just a stepping stone," she said. "We want to be a town that people are drawn to and where people find things specifically here in Holly Ridge to do."

After retiring, committee member Cecelia Parnin moved to Holly Ridge from Winston-Salem and became familiar with area during family vacations and watching her children play on the beach. She enjoys the small town feel and escaping a metro area with more than 670,000 people.

"I feel like it has a really big future," Parnin said.

A growing town

In addition to a new seal, plans for a first-time wayfinding project with direction to important places and a masterplan for recommendations will also be a part of the rebranding effort.

"Since Holly Ridge is so rich in its history with the military, maybe there could be a museum some day or maybe their could be a decommissioned tank or something set some place in park," said Franko, providing an example. "Maybe we can tell the story of the past with historical markers or historical signs, where people can also follow along online."

More: World War II: How winning the war spelled decline for Camp Davis and Wilmington

When it comes to growth and being one of the municipalities, Franko also pointed out Holly Ridge surpassed Surf City's population, which is 3,867 according to census numbers.

"We're really close to the beach, but we're not the beach, but we still have the benefits of having land right on the sound so we can enjoy the water," Wenzel said. "We have the same beautiful skies of sunrises and sunsets. We don't have deal with the influx of cars in the summer, which could make it difficult to get around."

Wenzel said another advantage economically is having available land to expand and hundreds of protected wetlands.

"We have a lot of advantages, being that we don't exist on an island," Wenzel said. "We also have Highway 17 running right down the heart of Holly Ridge, so commerce is able to freely flow to the north of us to Jacksonville to the south of us to Wilmington and the ports. We're right directly in the middle with some unique opportunities for businesses who want to serve customers, both to the north and south of us."

Franko said that's something residents should take pride in, especially with its manufacturing progress.

"America was built on manufacturing and companies are now choosing to relocate and build in Holly Ridge at the industrial park," Franko said. "There are no other industrial parks in the region. You have to go out towards to Jacksonville or Wilmington for stuff like that."

Challenges ahead

Franko said the committee would like to unveil new designs for the logo, seal, and other information in June - a process that's going to come with some hurdles along the way .

"It just takes some time to work through a process that leads to rebranding," he said. "The process comes with some built-in challenges like spending enough time to really figure out what the town's current and future characteristics are, the value proposition and uniqueness to mirror and reflect its true nature and identity, and that the identity matches the town's goal."

He added that many opinions, insights and feedback is required from those who understand the past and can see the direction the town is heading into the future. Applying the brand into signage and other things can bring some challenges.

"The timing of this project seems to be popular and timely," Franko said. "It is exciting for the town."

During a kickoff meeting, the committee came up with words and phrases that could capture the essence of Holly Ridge. Some of them included "The little town that can," "You can grow here," and noting that Holly means "happy." Members noted it's a town that's "near the beach, but not on the beach."

As a former art director and designer for Hanes Brand, Parnin will use her design skills to help produce a logo and seal for the town. After its unveiled later this year, anything related to a beach gateway will not be there.

"We don't have to be the gateway to anywhere," she said. "We are Holly Ridge in itself. We are in the growth phase and we are very hopeful to grow this town. I feel like it's a nice opportunity for people and that's why I got involved."

Reporter Chase Jordan can be reached at cjjordan@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily News: Holly Ridge branding to form identity separate from Topsail neighbors