Goodbye, Brett’s: Iconic Fernandina Beach Restaurant to Be Demolished Monday at 9 A.M.

Rendering of reconfigured marina is lower bottom left

By Mike Lednovich/Editor

FERNANDINA BEACH — Demolition of Brett’s Waterway Café, the landmark riverfront restaurant that served generations of residents and tourists before becoming the center of a yearslong dispute over its deteriorating foundation, is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 26.

The city has begun preparing for spectators to gather along the waterfront to watch the removal of one of Fernandina Beach’s most recognizable downtown buildings.

In an email Friday, city Communications Manager Mary Hamburg asked the contractor and city employees to place barricades around a designated viewing area and requested a police officers at the scene as a safety precaution.

“We are expecting spectators and would like them to be contained as much as possible for their safety,” Hamburg wrote.

Downtown District Coordinator Katie Newton notified parking management that a portion of Parking Lot B would be blocked off for safe viewing, primarily for news media. The restricted area could remain in place throughout the day, depending on the crowd.

The demolition comes just over a year after Brett’s served its final customers on Oct. 4, 2025, ending 41 years of waterfront dining at the foot of Centre Street.

Its removal is part of a $12.58 million reconstruction of the Fernandina Harbor Marina, the largest capital construction project in the city's history. The extensive makeover will replace deteriorating waterfront infrastructure, expand marina facilities and open views of the Amelia River that have been blocked by the restaurant for decades.

On July 21, the City Commission voted unanimously to greenlight the marina redevelopment, awarding a roughly $9.66 million construction contract to Baker Consulting & Engineering LLC, doing business as Baker Design Build.

What originally began as a plan to demolish Brett's expanded into a much larger reconstruction after engineers determined that the marina's aging over the water supporting infrastructure also needed extensive repairs and replacement.

The project includes demolition of Brett's and its supporting concrete pilings structure, replacement of the deteriorating bulkhead, construction of a new public pier extending into the Amelia River, expanded dredging and improvements to the marina's docks and fueling facilities.

The new pier will be more closely aligned with Centre Street, providing a direct pedestrian connection between downtown and the river. Plans also call for a single marina entrance, improved public access and a less obstructed view of the waterfront.

More than 60 aging pilings will be removed, and the dredging area has expanded to nearly three times the size originally proposed.

The project includes an over-water fuel distribution system, new floating docks and gangways, and additional dockage. The existing timber pier will be removed after the replacement pier is constructed, allowing floating docks E and F to be reconnected while limiting interruptions to marina operations.

The bulkhead improvements are also part of the city's effort to protect downtown from tidal flooding, storm surge and rising water levels.

But engineers have warned that the condition of the aging waterfront structures and debris buried beneath the marina could complicate construction.

During a July city commission presentation on the redevelopment, Passero Associates CEO Andrew Holesko said concrete from the waterfront structure that preceded Brett's had been left in place when the restaurant was built.

“When the city demolished the teepee and built Brett's, it didn't take out the concrete structure ... that's actually what's been falling into the river for decades,” Holesko said.

The deteriorating concrete and underwater debris are among the conditions contractors will have to address as they remove the restaurant's foundation, replace the bulkhead and dredge the marina basin.

Deputy City Manager Glenn Akramoff warned commissioners that the extent of the deterioration and the unknown conditions beneath the waterfront could lead to additional construction costs.

“We are going to find things that we don't necessarily know about. Even though we told them (contractors) to plan, there are going to be some change orders,” Akramoff said.

The city included a 15% contingency for high-risk seawall excavation and a 10% contingency for the remainder of the project to account for unforeseen conditions and additional work.

City officials have said the marina will remain operational during construction, although boats and marina services will be relocated as work progresses. Parking Lot A has been closed for construction staging, and marina businesses and services, including the Ship Store, have been moved to temporary locations.

The redevelopment is being financed through several sources, including borrowed funds, Community Redevelopment Agency money, parking revenue, marina operations and state grants.

The city's previously announced construction schedule called for completion by Dec. 3, 2027.

Rendering of the reconfigured marina once the project is completed/

Brett's Waterway Café opened in 1984 and became a fixture of downtown Fernandina Beach, occupying one of the city's most prominent waterfront locations at 1 S. Front St.

Perched over the Amelia River, the restaurant offered sweeping views of passing boats, sunsets and the working waterfront. Its dining room and outdoor seating became familiar destinations for residents celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and family gatherings, as well as tourists visiting Amelia Island.

For more than four decades, Brett's occupied a distinctive place in the downtown landscape as the city's lone restaurant on the river.

The city owned the waterfront property, while the restaurant operated as a tenant. That arrangement became increasingly contentious as engineers identified serious deterioration in the structure supporting the building over the water.

The site's history predates Brett's as the waterfront location previously housed the Tee-Pee, another familiar downtown establishment.

According to Holesko, portions of the earlier structure remained beneath the restaurant after Brett's was built, leaving decades-old concrete debris in the river.

The dispute over Brett's future intensified in July 2021, when the city's marine engineer declared the restaurant structurally unsafe.

A condemnation notice cited the active collapse of a concrete double-tee structural member, part of the system supporting the building above the river.

Numerous past engineering inspections had identified numerous deficiencies in the concrete structure, including deterioration, exposed prestressing strands and deflection of structural members.

The city's assessment concluded that the structure had exceeded its useful life and faced an elevated risk of serious damage during a hurricane or other high-wind event.

The notice required corrective action and established a September 2021 deadline for repairs.

Before Brett's was built was the Welcome Station Teepee

The findings set off a prolonged disagreement between the city and the restaurant's operators over the condition of the building, responsibility for repairs and whether the business could continue operating.

Center Street Restaurant Group, which operated Brett's, challenged the city's actions through a complaint seeking arbitration, alleging that the city had wrongfully damaged its business.

The dispute centered on the city's efforts to address the deteriorating structure and the operators' efforts to preserve a restaurant that had been in business for decades.

City officials maintained that the deteriorating foundation presented a public safety concern requiring action. The restaurant's operators resisted losing the business and disputed the city's handling of the property.

The disagreement became a recurring issue in city government as officials weighed repairs, continued operation and eventual demolition.

By early 2025, the City Commission had moved toward removing the building rather than attempting another round of structural repairs.

The engineering problems extended beyond the restaurant itself. Portions of the concrete structure beneath Brett's were deteriorating, and debris from the waterfront's earlier structures remained in the river.

Those conditions complicated demolition planning because the building stood immediately beside an operating marina, where falling debris or construction activity could damage docks, boats and other facilities.

The city's engineering work ultimately incorporated the restaurant demolition into a larger project to replace the failing bulkhead and reconstruct portions of the marina.

In November 2025, the City Commission voted unanimously to accept a $7 million loan from Pinnacle Bank to help finance demolition and redevelopment of the property.

The city also sought public input on what should replace the restaurant. A survey found substantial interest in another waterfront restaurant, along with a pier and pavilion.

With limited funding available, the marina redevelopment plan approved in July that instead focuses on public access, a new pier and replacement of aging marina infrastructure. No replacement restaurant is included in the approved construction project.

The marina redevelopment is separate from the city's broader downtown waterfront master planning, which includes additional flood protection and public access improvements along the Amelia River.

The new marina bulkhead will connect with the city's larger effort to protect downtown from flooding. The waterfront master plan also addresses the remaining flood protection system north of the marina, where extending the wall toward the port would involve privately owned waterfront property.

The marina reconstruction will replace aging structures and remove pilings and other obstructions beneath the waterfront. Engineers expect the changes to improve water circulation while providing more modern facilities for recreational boaters and marina businesses.

Monday's efforts will again reshape the riverfront following the city's completion of a waterfront park and the demolition of another city icon Atlantic Seafood.

For residents who remember Brett's as a favorite gathering place, the demolition will end a familiar chapter in Fernandina Beach's downtown history.