By Jeff Lipton
Few people were there to witness as the construction grappler tore into a piece of village history. A building which stood as an unofficial landmark since the 1920s, will make way for six townhouses costing about $1 million apiece. A single-family home costing $900,000 will be built off to the side.
Jimmy Mazzitelli and his construction crew began setting up for demolition on Wednesday, April 10, surrounding the property with containers in the water to catch any debris that fell in order to safeguard the environment.
The following morning, the crane took a huge chunk out of the dilapidated building on Acapulco Street. Before it was all down on Friday, workers had removed 200 cubic yards of wood and other debris, filling up six to seven 30 cubic yard rubbish containers.
Last Thursday's gusty winds added a small challenge to the demolition, said Mazzitelli, who otherwise said that conditions were ripe for tearing the building down. The winds also made the water choppy and the boat used to fish debris out of the water bumped up and down.
These homes will have great water views, said Mazzitelli as he supervised the demolition Thursday morning. It's a big project.
But we have to be careful of the water and protect the environment.
All debris should be removed and the property cleaned up by the end of this week, he said. Boat slips will then be constructed, one for each of the six waterfront townhouses and then the homes will be built, starting in about three months.
The townhouses will each have three floors and it will look real neat, Mazzitelli said of the $5 million construction project.
Each will be about 3,000 square feet and will have two decks looking out over the water. If the weather cooperates, he said he hoped to finish construction by the end of 2002. The homes will take between six and eight months to build.
The building was first erected as a 12-foot by 8-foot shack in 1920, which was first used as a fishing station. Later, it became AJ's and Friends restaurant. For the past seven years, the village has fought plans in court to reopen and expand the bar/restaurant. From 1920 to 1989 the shack was expanded to 40 X 60 feet, and by 1989 it resembled a bar/restaurant more than a fishing station, neighbors said.
Before it closed in 1994, neighbors said it posed a major disruption in their quality of life. Village officials fought the re-opening and negotiated with developers the construction of six townhouses and the single-family home.
Village of Atlantic Beach Mayor Stephen Mahler said last week, This is sensational news for the community. This has nothing but an upside and should enhance the value of all the property in the area. I was happy when I saw that big first crunch [with the construction crane]. There was always some obstacle standing in the way.
James G. Connors, a neighbor and former village trustee, called AJ's an old, dangerous, ugly, dilapidated structure... I live 30 yards from it. The structure and the potential doom that it represented has been haunting me for eight years. The demolition will truly be an event to celebrate.
