CROWDS gathered to watch as work started to demolish a popular seaside café to protect 1,600 homes, tourist attractions and businesses from the threat of flooding by the waves.
CROWDS gathered to watch as work started to demolish a popular seaside café to protect 1,600 homes, tourist attractions and businesses from the threat of flooding by the waves.
Workers are removing the Shore Break at Felixstowe bit by bit, salvaging as much as possible from the building, including double-glazed doors and windows, fixtures and fittings.
It was a sad farewell for the café, which was closed down last month because of safety concerns with the erosion of the beach leaving it hanging precariously over the waves at high tide.
As TV cameras and amateur photographers captured its end, contractors were busy working alongside to shore up the beach with enormous rocks and protect the sea wall and promenade until £6m can be obtained from government for permanent defences.
As the tide started to turn it was clear that the completion of the demolition of the café would have to wait until today .
Steve Bloomfield, who ran the café business, said it was such a shame to have closed just as the summer was beginning.
“We would have been busy today with the sun shining like this,” he said.
“We just missed a Bank Holiday and then we missed half-term and now the weather has turned, the people are here and it would have been the start of the summer season and much better takings for us.”
Suffolk Coastal council said it had no choice but to have the café removed because the emergency sea defence work needed to take place all along the shore.
Any gap would be a weak point for the sea to attack and with the prom already partially collapsed the waves could breach the wall and then flood, gardens, streets and homes.
Owner of the building Andy Mexome is receiving compensation for the loss of his building.
The café, which looks like a row of six beach huts stuck together, with its balcony over the waves, has been a popular venue over the years. It was originally built in the 1980s as a windsurfing shop when Felixstowe was a major sailboarding competition centre.
WEBLINK: www.suffolkcoastal.gov.uk
What do you think about the Shore Break being demolished? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk
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