Atlantic Seafood building: What happens next?

The fate of the iconic bold-red, weathered riverfront Atlantic Seafood building will be in the hands of a Fernandina Beach building department inspector following Tuesday's city commission vote to terminate its lease with businessman Ernie Saltmarsh.

Originally signed in 2008 and set to run through 2028, the lease agreement between the City and Atlantic Seafood Bait and Tackle LLC — later assigned to Atlantic Seafood, LLC under Saltmarsh — was mutually terminated without financial penalty. Saltmarsh, who voluntarily closed the retail shop, requested the early termination. In return, he asked for no buyout, and the city waived any remaining lease payments.

Saltmarsh had assumed the lease with a plan to replace the aging structure with a combination restaurant/seafood market on a similar sized parcel moved slightly east of the riverfront. The city had determined it had to demolish the building in order to continue construction of the flood protection wall north to the marina boat ramp.

City Manager Sarah Campbell supported the early termination, noting that upcoming work in the area — including improvements to the boat ramp and expansion of the waterfront park — would benefit from the site becoming available sooner. "It does benefit the city to close the shop early," she said.

Long time resident Julie Ferriera, a frequent speaker at city commission meetings, asked an important question - what happens now to the building and the property?

Ferreira urged the city to consider preserving a portion of the building’s original structure. She suggested demolishing only the newer additions, then raising funds to refurbish the remaining core as a piece of “iconic old Florida.” Ferreira proposed converting it into a small café or kiosk, incorporating it into the park as a historic focal point.

Watch Julie Ferriera speak about the Atlantic Seafood building with commissioners.

Commissioners expressed interest in the idea, though they emphasized the need for a professional assessment of the building’s condition first. Commissioner Joyce Tuten and others encouraged exploring whether parts of the façade could be saved or reused.

“It has a lot of issues,” Tuten acknowledged. “But surely there must be some aspects of the building that could be saved or salvaged and incorporated into something as a historic memory.”

The structure was in such dire condition that for many years those holding the lease were unable to obtain insurance on the building.

Commissioner Tim Poynter suggested creating an entrance to the city's waterfront park now under construction once the building is removed.

"I'd like to ask city staff if they would look at designing a nice entrance going into the waterfront park from that area, because it wasn't (originally) designed for that, because there was going to be potentially a building sitting farther back between the existing building now and where the waterfront park starts. Now that's not going to be occupied by a building, if that could be spruced up to be part of the waterfront park," Poynter asked.

However, Campbell interjected that the city needed to determine the structural integrity of the building.

My preference would be to direct the building official to conduct an inspection of this facility. It's a pile supported structure, and I don't believe the floor and the pilings are salvageable, but the building official needs to make that determination," she said. "My recommendation would be that we forward the demolition application to the HTC for their approval."

Campbell said that Saltmarsh had also negotiated taking the Atlantic Seafood Sign to relocate at his restaurant with the same name on Sadler Road.

Commissioner Genece Minshew argued that once the sign is removed, there isn't much remaining to be preserved.

"Mr. Saltmarsh is taking the sign, which is the most iconic component of it. So once that sign's gone, then I'm not sure that there's much less there to be, maintained or to be recognized as significant or iconic," Minshew said.

Additionally, the city has asked the Amelia Island Museum of History to document the structure before any demolition occurs.