Restaurant’s open, but it may take years and $20M to rebuild hurricane-damaged Anglin’s Fishing Pier

Spiro Marchelos is in a tough spot.

Christmas and New Year’s are only days away. But the owner of the storm-damaged Anglin’s Fishing Pier in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is turning away sightseers and anglers from the iconic tourist attraction because of a nearly 90-foot gap caused by Hurricane Nicole in early November.

His landside outdoor restaurant and bar, though, are open. Trouble is, publicity from the act of God is overshadowing what’s left of the business.

“We are alive, we are still alive,” he said in an interview Thursday over Greek coffee at the restaurant. “We need government help. This pier is the heartbeat of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. We’re not asking for a billion dollars.”

But a contractor he hired said at a town code compliance hearing this month that it would cost up to $20 million to rebuild the embattled pier, which extended a little more than 900 feet into the Atlantic Ocean before the storm. The gap starts roughly at the 350-foot mark.

If the money part sounds challenging, the time frame for a rebuild sounds even more daunting. An engineer retained by Marchelos told a special magistrate at the hearing that it could take up to two years to obtain the necessary environmental permits for any work to start.

Decades-long history

The original version of the pier opened in 1941. After a major rebuilding project was completed, it reopened just two days after the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The privately-owned pier, which is named for Melvin Anglin, the town’s first mayor, for years has attracted fishing aficionados and other visitors 24 hours a day.

Marchelos and a brother bought the pier in 2005, but an ownership dispute emerged. Marchelos became president of Fisherman’s Pier Inc. in 2015, not long after his brother suffered a stroke.

The pier is among several major Broward County piers that have taken their lumps from storms over the years. But in the last five years, Anglin’s has twice suffered major damage — from Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Nicole this year.

In a recent newsletter to residents, the town delivered the discouraging news to local businesses and advocates who have long counted on the pier to be a prime tourism magnet: “The pier may not be able to be repaired due to the level of deterioration.” the letter said.

At the code compliance hearing, David Atkisson, the contractor, told Special Magistrate Thomas J. Ansbro that the goal would be to follow the paths traveled in Deerfield Beach and Pompano Beach, where piers have been replaced at considerable cost in recent years.

The new Fisher Family Pier in Pompano Beach, for example, emerged as part of a broader beach redevelopment project with a fishing village. The cost of the pier alone was $15 million and funded by the city, spokeswoman Sandra King said.

The end point of the 976-foot Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier, also city owned, is being fixed after suffering damage from Nicole as well, according to reports. But the damage was not to the extent absorbed by Anglin’s Fishing Pier.

Inflation’s bite

Marchelos says he has the money to start a rebuilding project. “We have allocated funds for this project,” he said.

But as with all businesses contemplating redevelopment or expansion, he is feeling inflation’s bite. Construction costs ”have gone through the roof,” pushing up prices for labor, materials and insurance, as well as interest rates for borrowing money.

The day that part of the pier disappeared, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea in a statement pledged unspecified assistance.

“Anglin’s Fishing Pier is such an iconic landmark in our town, and seeing it damaged is heartbreaking,” Mayor Chris Vincent said. “While the pier is privately owned, I know our town will do what we can to support the property owner in the coming days and months.”

Thus far, the town has shown no inclination to contribute money. Its public information officer said there are no proposals for financial aid pending before the commission.

But a meter is running on $200-a-day in fines stemming from the pier’s dilapidated pre-storm condition.

During the code compliance hearing, the magistrate said the fines will continue so the town can maintain its leverage to ensure compliance with safety issues. At the hearing, Marchelos called the decision “unfair,” arguing the damages were caused by two “acts of God,” Irma and Nicole.

Nonetheless, he is still able to operate the restaurant.

Restaurant safe for the public

Town spokeswoman Aimee Adler Cooke said a section of the pier that is still open to the public, “including the restaurant, is safe for use.”

But the town has told Machelos to keep officials updated to ensure that any code violations are addressed. And officials including Town Manager Linda Connors want to ensure that measures are taken to prevent pier debris from injuring boaters and beachgoers.

Adler Cooke said that timelines for providing safety inspections and progress reports were set forth for the company at code compliance meetings, “and thus far, have been met.”

In the interview, Marchelos said that within the last 24 hours, electricians installed lighting for the restaurant; lights are also in place to serve as markers for passing boaters.

He said he posts employees at the pier around-the-clock to ensure no one uses the closed section for swimming, diving or fishing.

On Thursday, Marchelos had to turn away a visiting family of five from Finland. They wanted to walk the pier and see the resident pelicans.

He still wants to accommodate sightseers. On Jan. 6, he intends to conduct a Feast of Epiphany near the pier, complete with a “Blessing of the Water.”

Staff writer David Lyons can be reached at dvlyons@SunSentinel.com

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