"The conditions underneath Brett's are so bad that engineers won't even go down there," project manager Glen Akramoff told marina stakeholders in late July. Brett's Waterway Café closed for good on Oct. 4, 2025, after 41 years. Today is one year to the day since that last service. City documents say the building's foundation has deteriorated and parts of its piling system have fallen into the Amelia River. The city wants the building down by the end of the year.
That demolition is the most visible part of a bigger change. Through December 2027, most of the Fernandina Harbor Marina will be a contractor's work site. The paid parking program that was supposed to help fund the rebuild ends Nov. 18. For the fall and holiday season, the open riverfront downtown is the park that opened in April at the marina's south basin. The calendar is already arranged around it.
On July 21, 2026, the City Commission awarded the construction contract to Baker Consulting & Engineering, LLC, doing business as Baker Design Build, for about $9.66 million. Once construction administration, inspection, the over-water fuel system and a contingency of about $1.35 million are added, the project totals $12,532,900.83. The contract allows 478 calendar days and sets a tentative completion date of Dec. 3, 2027, about 14 months from now. Akramoff told stakeholders the contract carries financial penalties if the contractor goes past that schedule.
The city's Sept. 25 progress report says mobilization has started. Parking Lot A is closed "for the foreseeable future" and is serving as the staging area. The scope covers a seawall the city estimates is about 100 years old, dredging of the marina basin, a new pier and new docks. The city's bid documents describe the pier as heavy timber.
Here is what the July stakeholder meeting said stays in place during construction:
An on-site inspector writes daily reports, and weekly summaries go up on the city's website. Marina Manager Chris Ferguson and Downtown District Coordinator Katie Newton are the main points of contact. Updates collect at fbfl.us/projects.
When the commission awarded the contract in July, the funding plan had four city sources: a $7 million line of credit, Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) funds to make the line-of-credit payments, $1.5 million from paid parking, and marina operations. Two grants filled in the rest. One is a state resiliency grant worth up to $4 million for the seawall. The other is a Florida Inland Navigation District grant covering half of eligible dredging costs.
Within four weeks, the city could no longer count on future parking revenue. City voters went to the polls on Aug. 18 for the primary election, which also carried a referendum on paid parking. Nearly 75% voted for the citizen initiative that gives residents a vote on paid parking inside city limits. The next evening, commissioners voted 4 to 1 to terminate the contract with One Parking, Inc. The city's statement the next day was brief:
"Last night, the Commission directed the City Manager to begin the process of terminating the One Parking contract. The downtown paid parking program remains in effect at this time."
The contract requires 90 days' notice to cancel, which pushed the end date to mid-November. A later motion to reconsider ended in a 2-2 tie, News4JAX reported on Sept. 1. The termination stands, and the program ends Nov. 18. Until then, enforcement hours described to the Waterfront Advisory Board in April still apply: Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m. City residents could register for two free annual permits per household and buy extra permits for $24 a year. The city's notices so far don't say what parking rules take effect after Nov. 18.
The marina still has to be paid for. The Fernandina Beach Observer reported that the revised plan uses about $668,000 left over from parking revenue plus an $832,405 transfer from the General Fund. That transfer was $654,589 in the current budget. In September, commissioners also adopted an operating millage rate of 4.8530 for fiscal year 2026-27, and the roughly $1.5 million it raises is being held in contingency.
The city opened Amelia River Waterfront Park in April 2026. It sits on the marina's south basin next to parking lots C and D, and it has lighting, a pavilion, restrooms, a play structure and benches.
The park opened four months before the marina work began. As a result, downtown has a finished public waterfront to use while the rest of the basin is behind construction fencing, and holiday events are already planned there. Tidings and Twinkle, a community event, is set for the park on Dec. 10, the night before Dickens on Centre begins.
Farther north, the waterfront's long-term future is still on paper. A private concept called Amelia River Wharf, at zero North Front Street, proposes restaurant and retail space. Its March presentation was early feedback before any formal application, and the design could change. The city's own schedule shows a separate Waterfront Expansion still in design, with construction set for August 2027 and completion in February 2028.
The fall events are still on, and none of the sources reviewed shows a cancellation tied to the marina. What changes is when each one falls relative to the parking end date and the demolition:
Taste of Amelia and the car show both happen while the meters are still running. Dickens and the Shrimp Drop come after the meters stop and around the same time Brett's is scheduled to come down.
The marina gets the most attention, but the city's July schedule lists other construction projects starting around the same time:
| Project | Construction start | Scheduled finish |
|---|---|---|
| Segment 1 Resiliency Wall | September 2026 | February 2027 |
| Beach Harmonization | October 2026 | April 2027 |
| Walkover #9 | October 2026 | April 2027 |
| MLK Park | December 2026 | December 2027 |
| Columbarium | January 2027 | April 2027 |
Two closures don't appear in that table. Demolition has started on the warehouse structure and concrete slab at 115 S. 2nd Street, and part of the parking lot next to it is closed until the work is done. On the finished side, the Area 6 Stormwater Project is complete. It was paid for with American Rescue Plan Act money and a Resilient Florida grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Next spring brings the biggest overlap. The city's original goal was to start marina construction in the summer of 2027, after the annual Shrimp Festival. The contract that was actually awarded started work in August 2026. That puts the 2027 festival in the middle of construction. The city's schedule mentions an "event shutdown" and lists "scheduling around major events" among its project risks. No festival-specific plan has been published yet.
For now, the dates to know are the Atlantic Avenue start on Oct. 5, the end of paid parking on Nov. 18, Tidings and Twinkle at Amelia River Waterfront Park on Dec. 10, and the Brett's demolition before Jan. 1.
If you own downtown or near the river and you're trying to time a sale or a renovation around this construction, Tara Belanger can talk you through how buyers are responding to the waterfront right now. Our Fernandina Beach neighborhood page is a good place to start, and when you're ready, let's connect.
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