In 1957, Tony Bennett sang the lyrics “in the middle of an island, in the middle of an ocean,” accompanied by a mellow Hawaiian guitar. That same year, Charlie Fells built a modest, one-story building on Harbor Island. Fells’ wife, Iris Kelly, named the establishment Middle of the Island.
Kelly’s son, Allen Kelly, remembered the restaurant having a large outdoor patio in the early years where locals caroused on warm summer evenings. It endured through the decades, gaining popularity for its diner atmosphere and delicious food.
For Christopher Wright Rogers, who grew up on the island in the 1970s, pancakes and bacon at Middle of the Island with his grandfather was a morning routine on the way to school. The routine stuck, even after Rogers began driving himself.
The restaurant was also a popular lunch spot, with patrons waiting in long lines just to sit down at a table. Rogers recalled seeing surfers feasting after a morning surf session, police officers relaxing on their lunch breaks, his classmates from New Hanover High School and his friends from church.
“I would always see someone I knew,” Rogers said during an Oct. 24 phone interview. “A relative, a cousin . . . it was always one of those areas.”
Because of the eager, hungry crowds, Rogers said he never lingered over his food for very long.
“You would get served right away and then it was almost like if you didn’t eat in a certain amount of time people were going to be sitting on top of you!”
The food most people remember is the fare served by C.M. Rogers, who took over Middle of the Island in 1988. Rogers described the restaurant as one big family.
“To see the different crowds and all the people that worked for me,” he said. “You had the fishermen, the college kids, the surfers, the people with second homes, so it was a good mix.”
In 2006 Rogers called it quits, turning over the building to his friend Nathan Sanders. Wrightsville Beach was changing, Rogers said, and it wasn’t the best environment for a diner anymore. Chain restaurants in shopping centers like Mayfaire Town Center were drawing business away from local spots, Rogers added.
Sanders had a new vision for the property. He designed a mixed-use project that would span five lots with six landscaped areas within the building footprint. The property would contain first-floor commercial units and 10 residential units.
At the time, Sanders called the project one of the most exciting on which he had ever worked. He said the design, which was inspired by the Grand Floridian Hotel, would mark the entrance to Wrightsville Beach.
After a lengthy process that spanned more than a year, the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen granted the property a conditional-use permit to make allowances for parking, setback and driveway requirements. Residents and town officials seemed supportive of the project.
Soon after Sanders received approval to begin building, the economy crashed. He put the project on hold until the market improved. Not until recently has the economy begun to recover, he said, although it is not yet healthy enough to support the project he had previously planned.
“What might have been the best use for the property then, might not be the best use for it now,” he said during an Oct. 24 phone interview. “The market will determine ultimately what goes there.”
With the economy stabilizing, Sanders revealed he is in fact working on a proposition that he should be able to announce by early 2015.
“It would just be a fabulous thing for the beach,” he said.
Not a week goes by that he doesn’t receive a phone call asking him what he plans to do with the property, he added. And inevitably, along with the inquiries come specific requests.
“The question I get is not ‘can you put a restaurant there,’” Sanders said, “the question is ‘can you put Middle of the Island there.’”
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