FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – The city manager of Fernandina Beach confirmed on Thursday the building where the restaurant Brett’s Waterway Café is located will be demolished.
City Manager Sarah Campbell said the building is expected to be torn down sometime next year.
Last week, the Fernandina Beach City Commission voted unanimously last week to emphasize the urgency of addressing the demolition of Brett’s Waterway Cafe and determining the future of its riverfront location, according to the Fernandina Observer.
According to Campbell, the building currently has two tenants. A small shop up front and Brett’s Waterway Café, which is owned by Center Street Restaurant Group.
A document obtained through the city’s records request portal shows a sublease agreement from 1988 with the Restaurant Group. They intended to jointly build and furnish a 200-person restaurant on the marina.
They intended to jointly build and furnish a 200-person restaurant on the marina. (can we have the restaurant slide in next to the document here.)
Campbell also mentioned the last people who helped decide the future of this building was the Marina Advisory Board.
RELATED | Fernandina Beach restaurant declared structurally unsafe by city
In July 2021, the Fernandina Beach restaurant was declared structurally unsafe due to the “active collapse of concrete double-tee structure member.” The notice also said there was an elevated risk of substructure failure, collateral damage, and repairs necessary.
The restaurant had until Sept. 2, 2021, to repair the building.
A few years after that, the restaurant group filed a complaint against the city asking for arbitration, saying the city “wrongfully caused great damage to Brett’s business.”
Campbell said a company is looking into how to properly demolish the building without damaging the docks around it.
The city manager also said the commission hasn’t decided on what will happen after the building is demolished. They are hoping to engage with the public in the future to decide that.
