What’s Next For Nauset Beach Admin Building? Natural Resources Manager Says Town Needs To Start Planning For Building’s Removal

ORLEANS – Nate Sears still remembers the three-day winter nor’easter that ravaged Nauset Beach in 2018, wiping out 65 feet of coastal dune at Nauset and also destroying Liam’s restaurant in the beach’s lower parking lot.

But surprisingly, the beach administration building, which dates back to the 1960s, survived the storm.

“Somehow during the 2018 storm, those two buildings were the same distance from the water, and one survived and the other didn’t,” Sears said.

Now more than six years later, the administration building continues to provide space for lifeguard locker rooms, dispatch operations, daily and weekly beach sticker sales and public bathrooms. But the fate of the aging building is all but sealed. Sears told the select board that it’s not a matter of whether or not to demolish the building, but when.

“I don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball, but we should probably start planning on it,” he said of the building’s removal.

The town has an order of conditions from the conservation commission to demolish the building and continue rebuilding and replanting the dune system; it expires in December 2025. The order, which the town applied for in 2018 to carry out the demolition of Liam’s and begin dune restoration, has already been extended once, Sears said.

“I’m not saying we can’t get an extension on that, but it certainly would be nice to do it on our own time frame rather than on an emergency declaration,” he told the select board.

Town meeting voters have already authorized $130,000 to demolish the existing administration building, which is now surrounded by sand.

“Right now it’s encapsulated by the dune,” Sears saud. “So the dune’s migrated over the top of the roof. It’s like two-by-four construction. It can’t even handle the sand load.”

Once demolition of the existing building is complete, Sears said he envisions a new administration building, as well as public bathrooms, a retail business and a new restaurant, being built on the upper beach parking lot.

“It changes the atmosphere at Nauset Beach but it would certainly be comparable to other beaches including the National Seashore,” he said.

The town’s capital improvement plan calls for funding a design study for a new building and accompanying facilities in fiscal 2027, followed by funds for a final design in fiscal 2028 and construction in fiscal 2029. But Sears said the town needs to prepare for the transitional period between when the existing building comes down and the new facilities are constructed. In particular, he said, the town needs to have a plan for providing public bathrooms in the interim period.

Modular buildings are currently being used as classrooms at Nauset Regional High School, which is in the midst of new campus construction. Select Board chair Mark Mathison inquired whether the town might be able to take one of the modular units over from the district once construction at the Cable Road campus is finished.

“One of those buildings might be a viable alternative at a very reasonable price,” he said, noting that the modulars are handicap accessible and designed to connect directly to the sewer.

The dune system fronting the administration building and the lower parking lot is currently strong, Sears said. But as past storms such as the one from 2018 have shown, the town needs to be ready for anything, he said.

“That’s the only certainty: it’s coming our way,” he said. “You can only stand your ground for so long.”