Madeira Beach Snack Shack pilings in good shape

MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — The pilings that support the iconic Madeira Beach Snack Shack appear to be in “good shape” after being flooded with seawater by Hurricane Helene 16 months ago, according to Community Development Director Marci Forbes.

“The substructure as a whole is in much better shape than we had anticipated,” she said. “Some of the piles did exhibit some superficial pitting and wear and tear but… they’re not losing their capacity to withstand.”

The city paid $30,700 in December to remove sand that had washed beneath the building by Hurricane Helene that had been preventing a proper inspection. Forbes said she was finally able to crawl beneath the Snack Shack and inspect 14 of the 45 pilings last week. The director believes those pilings she looked at are a good representation of the rest.

“At first, I was a little thrown off because it had a soft exterior,” she said. “But as I started to go to the piles and look at them, I realized that was really the creosote layer on them. So once you can strip that away, the wood underneath seemed very, very hard. It didn’t seem too spongy.”

Forbes delivered the good news to city commissioners on Wednesday and they were pleasantly surprised. City leaders want to try to save the Snack Shack which is beloved by the community and has remained closed since Helene. Forbes said had the pilings been rotten she would have recommended demolition.

“It was good news to deliver,” she said. “I do want to be very careful with tempering those expectations because we will have to spend a little money. But it is nowhere near… what everybody was worried we would find.”

Forbes did find some problems. She said that all of the metal straps which secure the building to the substructure are rusty and need to be replaced.

The next step in the process to bring the Snack Shack back is to get the 92-year-old building historically designated. Forbes said that’s because it’s going to cost more than 50 percent of the value of the structure to repair the building, which was appraised at about $800,000.

The city must first write a historical designation code into its land development regulations. To qualify as a Florida Heritage Landmark building, the structure must be at least 50-years-old, have regional or statewide significance and be approved by the state.

Forbes said she expects the process to take between 6-to-8 months. In the meantime, the city will move forward with the design phase in order to start reconstruction as soon as the approval takes place.

Mayor Anne-Marie Brooks has asked acting City Manager and Fire Chief Clint Belk to find a food truck which can be stationed at Archibald Park until the Snack Shack reopens.