What would it take to keep a small snack bar open next to the playground at Children's Beach? The town has worked on that question since 2011. A presentation scheduled for this evening's Select Board meeting gives a blunt answer. Keeping the building costs more than it could ever earn back, so the recommendation is to take it down and pour a slab that can flood.
The discussion is on the Select Board agenda for Wednesday, September 30, 2026, at 5:30 p.m., listed as "Discussion Regarding Town Concessions (Jetties, Surfside, Children's Beach)." Nothing has been decided. Even so, the agenda packet shows how the town now weighs old structures along the Brant Point harbor edge. A modest repair can trigger a far larger bill to make the building ready for the water. Once that bill shows up, simpler options start to win.
Fifteen Years of Leases at One Small Building
The Children's Beach concession has been the hardest of the town's three beach concessions to keep running. Nantucket Current reported on the presentation in the agenda packet, which lays out the history in order:
- 2011: The town awarded a lease to ACK Shack. It ended the following year when the operator left the island.
- 2013: The town couldn't find an operator, and the stand stayed closed.
- 2014: A new lease was awarded. During that term the town canceled several promised renovation projects. The operator held back its final payment, citing the building's condition.
- Next lease: The town cut the rent and awarded the space to Hungry Minnow. It waived the first payment right away because of the facility's condition.
- 2020: The payment was waived again because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 2021: The final payment was disputed after that season's operator closed early.
- 2022 to now: The Surf, which also runs the Surfside Beach concession, has operated the stand as Gyp Sea. That lease expires at the end of this year.
The building shows up in every version of this story. The presentation lists its limited size, poor condition, low electrical capacity and heavy operating demands, along with low foot traffic in the area. Gyp Sea has kept the space steady for several seasons despite all of that. When The Inquirer and Mirror reviewed it in September 2025, owners Abigail Shaw and Stacey McEachern were running an outdoor café beside the playground. Breakfast and lunch included omelets, French toast, breakfast quesadillas, sandwiches and salads. They also hoped to add dinner if a liquor license was approved. That review describes one moment in time. It doesn't confirm this year's menu or the status of the license.
Why a Repair Turns Into a Rebuild
Fixing what is wrong with the building would be fairly cheap for a town project, probably under $500,000. The work would be extensive enough, though, that the building would then have to meet coastal resilience guidelines. That pushes the cost to between $2.1 million and $4.6 million. At that price, the town would need 45 to 66 years of rent just to break even.
The recommended alternative is a concrete slab with picnic tables, served by a mobile restroom trailer and a food truck. The town estimates it at $150,000 to $250,000. Flooding wouldn't hurt it.
The town's ten-year capital plan for FY28 to FY37 already lists both paths for the Children's Beach concession, each in FY30:
| Path | What it means | Cost figure |
|---|---|---|
| Renovate | Fix the building's problems | Under $500,000 on its own |
| Renovate to resilience standards | The repairs trigger coastal compliance | $2.1M to $4.6M in the presentation |
| Capital plan line, renovation and coastal resilience | Town budget placeholder, FY30 | $6,700,000 |
| Slab, picnic tables, restroom trailer, food truck | Recommended option | $150,000 to $250,000 |
| Capital plan line, "Option 2" | Town budget placeholder, FY30 | $250,000 |
Even the low end of the resilience estimate is more than eight times the high end of the slab estimate. The capital plan's renovation line is more than twenty-six times its Option 2 line. For a building with low foot traffic and a long record of lost lease payments, those ratios explain the recommendation.
Jetties Gets the Opposite Answer
At Jetties Beach, the same reasoning points the other way. Sandbar was recently awarded a new five-year lease there, after running a successful seasonal restaurant in the town-owned building. The Current reported earlier that the new term runs from 2027 through 2031. A building with a dependable tenant is worth protecting. The presentation recommends raising the existing Jetties building to reduce flood risk, and the Current reports that could cost $6 million. The site also needs bathroom upgrades, exterior work and parking improvements.
The capital plan carries a bigger number: $16.9 million for "Jetties Coastal Resiliency Improvements" in FY31. That line seems to cover more than raising one building, and it's a budget year, not a completion date. A second town concession at the Jetties tennis courts is slated for bathroom improvements and remodeling.
Each building on the Brant Point side of the harbor is being judged on the same terms: what it earns, what it costs to keep dry, and whether someone will run it. Jetties clears that bar. Children's Beach, by the town's own math, doesn't. Coastal resilience spending has been a point of friction on the board, and the Current named member Bob DeCosta as the one to watch when the $6 million figure comes up.
The Range Lights Face the Same Choice
Across the point, a federal agency is working through a similar trade. At Coast Guard Station Brant Point, the wooden range lights were built in 1908. On May 15, 2026, the Coast Guard presented the Nantucket Historical Commission with a plan to demolish them and put up 5-by-5-foot towers made of concrete and steel.
The minutes show the familiar pattern. Commissioners said they would prefer to see the existing lights repaired or rebuilt. The Coast Guard said it had looked at that option, but it costs more. Other ideas were discussed too. One was a monopole with a façade that looks like the wooden towers. Another was a base topped with a replica tower, possibly in steel. The Coast Guard has also looked at composite materials. Preservation Planner Holly Backus noted that the current lights add to the character and setting of the Nantucket National Historic Landmark. The Coast Guard acknowledged the change would have an adverse effect. It offered a monument or a history website as mitigation, and commissioners didn't favor either idea.
The commission voted unanimously to send its concerns to the Massachusetts Historical Commission. It agreed to take the matter up again once the state historic preservation office responds.
Children's Beach Already Hosts Food Trucks
A food truck at Children's Beach is less of a change than it sounds. This Sunday, October 4, 2026, the Family Food Truck Festival takes over Children's Beach at 15 Harbor View Way from noon to 3 p.m. Admission is free, and the rain date is Sunday, October 11. The town's proposal would make a food truck a regular fixture at this beach.
The rest of the beach doesn't depend on the concession building. The Children's Beach Bandstand on Harbor View Way hosts summer Sunday evening concerts. The town's calendar for this season also listed Sunrise Yoga and Capoeira on the Bandstand, plus the Summer Concert Series. The next big date on the beach is Thanksgiving morning, November 26, 2026. That's when the Nantucket Atheneum holds its 25th Cold Turkey Plunge at 10 a.m.
Here is what's coming up for anyone following the Children's Beach decision:
- Tonight, September 30: The Select Board takes up the concessions presentation. The town posts its meeting recordings publicly.
- October 4, or October 11 if it rains: The Family Food Truck Festival at Children's Beach.
- End of 2026: The Gyp Sea lease expires.
- November 26: The Cold Turkey Plunge at Children's Beach, 10 a.m.
- FY30: The capital plan's budget year for either Children's Beach path.
- Pending: The state's response on the Brant Point range lights, followed by another Historical Commission review.
Changes like these at Children's Beach and Jetties will shape how people use the Brant Point waterfront for years. If you want to talk through what they could mean for your own property or your plans near the harbor, John McGarr is glad to help, starting with a free home valuation.
