What's Changing at the Atlantic Beach Circle This Off-Season, and the Winter Events Already Gathering There

The year in Atlantic Beach ends at the Circle. The town's Smoke on the Water Bonfire is set for Wednesday, December 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. on the beach at 201 West Atlantic Blvd. Robert McDuffy will play live music, and Traveling Tom's Coffee Truck will be selling coffee and hot cider from 5 p.m. Admission is free and no tickets are needed. The town says that anyone offering to sell you a bonfire ticket should be treated as attempting fraud.

That fire burns on a stretch of beach the town is now rebuilding piece by piece, and it is rebuilding it as a civic space. Over the winter, the Circle's stage and bathhouse go through design and permitting while the town's free off-season events keep gathering there.

Three phases, and the last one is underway

The Circle is in the third and final phase of improvements that began in 2025. Here is how the Carteret County News-Times laid out the sequence:

1. Phase I, walkways. In March 2025 the town awarded a $74,500 contract to S.F. Ballou of Morehead City to replace two cobblestone alley walkways.
2. Phase II, a bathhouse remodel. The existing Circle Bathhouse was remodeled in 2025. Visitors still complained that the building was too small, and those complaints led to plans for a full redevelopment.
3. Phase III, a stage and a new bathhouse. This phase is the one moving through Town Hall this fall.

The News-Times reports that the stage will be the town's third public gathering space, joining the town park and the property near the bridge abutment site that the town acquired in March. That puts the Circle on a short list of places the town is shaping specifically for people to gather.

A stage on two town lots, with a private lot in between

At an August 13 work session, the Town Council reached informal consensus on a design for a circular concrete stage with shade sails and seating around it. Town Manager John O'Daniel presented three possible layouts. Council chose to put the stage at 141 Atlantic Blvd., near Davis Beachwear and Boutique, and the seating at 121 Atlantic Blvd., near Tackle Box Tavern.

The lot between them, 131 Atlantic Blvd., belongs to FMB Inc., the construction company of local developer Fred Bunn. According to the News-Times, FMB bought most of the Circle properties from the town in 2005, and the town bought the two project lots back in 2023. The deeds on both lots give FMB the right to approve future building plans so they fit with nearby development. The stage itself will still be built on town-owned land. Bunn's architect, Errol Warren, drew the designs, which council had been considering since January.

Councilmember Harry Archer told the News-Times in a text message that the approved design

"is a breakthrough that was a long time coming for AB."

WITN reported that the town was starting the permit process for a concrete stage area north of the boardwalk, with shade sails and picnic tables. The town's target is to finish before the Atlantic Beach Music Festival in May 2027. That date is still a target. When the News-Times reported the August decision, the town had not yet set a cost estimate, a firm timeline, or a list of required permits for the stage.

A bathhouse built for bigger crowds

The second half of Phase III is a new bathhouse. The current Circle facility has eight restrooms. The redevelopment plan would replace and move the building, raise capacity to 12 or 16 restrooms, replace and possibly expand the septic system, and enlarge the nearby 64-space parking lot, according to the News-Times.

The town got there by comparing two proposals. At the August 13 work session, Stroud Engineering of Morehead City offered a $165,100 package covering design, engineering, permitting and construction management, and council held off over the price. Council then unanimously approved Cullipher Group of Morehead City, which had submitted the lowest bid on September 2, with a maximum cost of $103,000. Mayor Pro Tempore Archer told the paper that the proposal was "significantly less than we started out with."

That $103,000 covers planning. It does not cover construction. It breaks down this way:

The building sits close to the beach, so it needs a major permit under the Coastal Area Management Act. If that permit is denied or comes with restrictive conditions, the town may need to ask the state's Coastal Resources Commission for a variance. Council has already authorized O'Daniel to amend the contract if that extra work becomes necessary. The article does not give a construction completion date.

The off-season calendar already runs to the Circle

The stage and the new bathhouse are still on paper. The Circle, the causeway and Fort Macon already host the town's fall and winter events. From late October to New Year's, the calendar looks like this:

The parade ends near the Circle, but its after-party is at the Fire Department. Santa will be there with free cookies, juice and hot chocolate, and the town invites families to take their own photos with him on a phone. Parade registration is open until noon on Thursday, December 3.

The bonfire's address, 201 West Atlantic Blvd., is the same address Crab's Claw lists. On December 30, the year's last town event takes place on the sand right outside a restaurant door.

Beach fill must begin by November 16

Carteret County's Board of Commissioners approved the Bogue Banks 2026/2027 Beach Nourishment Project, which the county runs as a winter project. Manson Construction Co. holds the $37,672,000 contract. Hopper dredges will place and grade up to 1,864,000 cubic yards of sand over 46,600 linear feet of shoreline in Emerald Isle, Indian Beach, Salter Path, Pine Knoll Shores and Atlantic Beach, the News-Times reported.

The way it's paid for ties back to the summer crowds the Circle is being rebuilt to handle. Each town pays 25% of the cost of the sand placed on its own shoreline. The other 75% comes from the county's Beach Fund, which receives half of the proceeds from the county's 6% occupancy tax. Atlantic Beach's estimated share is $610,500, compared with $4.2 million for Emerald Isle and $2.6 million for Pine Knoll Shores. The contract says the beach fill must begin by November 16, be substantially complete by April 30, 2027, and be fully complete by June 30, 2027.

The substantial-completion deadline falls a few weeks before the May 2027 music festival the stage is aiming for. Whether both are finished by then depends on dredges and permits, but the town and the county are working toward the same spring.

Where to warm up after the fire

Several Circle-area spots post year-round hours on their own websites, with no seasonal closure listed:

• Tackle Box Tavern, 117 Atlantic Blvd. Open 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day, and it has a Halloween event listed for Saturday the 31st.
• The Bite at the Box, same address. Open 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The rooftop bar opens daily at 10 a.m. and stays open until the restaurant closes.
• Crab's Claw, 201 W. Atlantic Blvd. Open daily, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Bahia Beach House & Surf Bar, 208 West Drive. Open daily, 4 to 9 p.m.

The bonfire runs until 8 p.m. on a Wednesday. On that schedule, Crab's Claw, Bahia Beach House and Tackle Box Tavern are all still open when the fire is lit at 6 p.m., and Tackle Box stays open long after the music ends.

If you live near the Circle, these plans will shape your summers for years: where the stage goes, how many restrooms there are, and how big the parking lot gets. I follow these Town Hall decisions closely because I see how they affect what living near the beach is like. If you'd like to talk about what the Circle's next phase could mean for your street, or want a local's view of Atlantic Beach this winter, Jo Ann Mangum would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.