1 ½-acre site to be auctioned off on Saturday, April 30
All that remains of what was once a 220-plus-acre island just south of Turner’s Bay in Big Lake is a scant 1 ½-acre patch of shell-based marsh grass that’s a little too soggy to walk on right now — but it could be yours later this month, if the price is right.
The current owner — 60-year-old Gary Morris of Sulphur — is parting with the island in the Calcasieu/Cameron Parish Government Auction at the end of the month, which will be conducted both online and in-person at the Burton Complex Coliseum in Lake Charles.
Bidding on the island is set to open at noon on Saturday, April 30.
“I acquired it in 2011 at a sheriff’s property auction. They have them every Wednesday here in Calcasieu Parish,” said Morris, who worked as a printer and computer technician but is now disabled. “The situation was that the state of Louisiana had acquired it, and no one was paying taxes on it. It was never actually deeded to anyone, and I got it from the state through the sheriff’s auction.”
While it’s admittedly not exactly ‘Fantasy Island’ in its current state, Morris says it could potentially be a great site for a primo fishing camp. Theoretically, the winning bidder could expand Morris’ portion of the island back to its original 120-plus-acre state noted on survey plats from the 1800s.
“Right now, that 220-plus-acre island is the acre-and-a-half that you see. That’s erosion, that’s also due to storms and most importantly, no one doing anything to halt the erosion,” Morris said. “I purchased the island hoping to bring my portion back to its original 121.4 acres of marshland. Whoever purchases the island from me can do the same.”
Morris said the Lake Charles Harbor Port Authority owned the other 100-acre portion of the island that has long since disappeared into Big Lake. Physical problems shortly after he purchased the land five years ago prevented him from making any improvements to it, he said.
“In 2011, I was a few years younger and in much better physical shape. I had been looking at properties in the GIS system, and I saw this anomaly on Calcasieu Lake, and nobody could tell me what it was available as,” he said. “So I started doing research and was able to find it. My intent was whenever I retired, that I would build my island getaway, whether it be a bug-out spot or a fishing camp.
“But my body deteriorated to where I couldn’t do my job anymore.”
Whoever places the winning bid — the island is being offered with a reserve price that will be determined at the time of sale — will need to do some major work just to prevent it from vanishing into the depths. That doesn’t include the challenges — and necessary permits that would be required — to actually build something on the island.
“Keep in mind it’s in Calcasieu Lake, and the minimum elevation for anything put on that island would be 15 feet,” Morris said. “In other words, you’d have to have two flights of stairs up to the bottom of your building.”
Morris said his contract with the auction company prevents him from divulging what he paid for the island in 2011, or the potential value of the land right now. And the winning bidder will have to provide a non-refundable $5,000 deposit at the time of the sale if the bid is ultimately accepted.
So if you’ve always been on the lookout for a little fixer-upper coastal island project, Morris has exactly what you’ve been looking for.
“Quite honestly, if somebody recovers that 121.4 acres, the other 100 acres will accumulate over the decades because of the direction of the silt gathering on the south and the east,” he said.
For more information on the island, visit the site’s Facebook page. For information on the online auction, click here.
