Could the end of the Carousel building and Snack Bar at Easton's Beach be near?
NEWPORT  The Carousel building and Snack Bar building at Eastons Beach are so deteriorated they should probably not be saved, according to an architectural and structural study of the buildings. The Carousel building is in such bad shape the city is currently having a construction firm install steel supports under the concrete platform surrounding the Carousel horses to prevent collapse. The structural joists are extremely deteriorated, the report said. This area presents a dangerous condition and requires immediate attention.  The Carousel horses are mounted on a central steel column independent of the platform and are not in danger, according to William Riccio, the citys director of public services. More:Easton's Beach faces a lifeguard shortage. This is how Newport is trying to change that. Ahlborg Construction Corp. of Warwick undertook the emergency support work at the Carousel building under a supplemental contract of $106,990 awarded by the City Council last week. The firm already has a $1.18 million contract to repair the badly deteriorated stairs tower of the Gateway parking garage, so this was an add on. I dont want to scare anyone, but this was an emergency, Riccio said. The Ahlborg crew, under the oversight of Yoder + Tidwell structural engineers of Providence, worked last week through the Memorial Day weekend and into this week, said Thomas Harrop, the citys facilities superintendent. The work is almost done and will be completed when steel parts ordered from Chicago arrive, expected within the week, he said. All public access to the Carousel building was closed to the public in February based on preliminary findings of DBVW Architects of Providence, as well as Yoder + Tidwell, which evaluated the three Eastons Beach buildings that are adjacent to each other. Besides the Carousel building, they are the Rotunda, and the Snack Bar building that also houses the Surf Shop on the ground floor. More:RIPTA bus shuttle from Newport's North End to Middletown's Second Beach gets mixed reviews  In spite of the steel shoring now installed, the building will remain closed. The temporary shoring can hold only the weight of the concrete platform, nothing more, Riccio said. The question is whether the Carousel building will ever be re-opened, based on the findings of the report. The Carousel horses, which date to the 1950s, should probably be located in a different building that is out of harms way, the report said. The 45-page final report from DBVW Architects and Yoder + Tidwell is titled, Eastons Beach Pavilions: Evaluation of Existing Conditions with Recommendations. The final report is dated April 15, 2021, but it has not been publicized, Riccio said. The report has been sent to City Council members, who will hold a workshop to discuss the future of the buildings, he said. More:A device to track sharks has been placed off of Newport's coast. While the Carousel building and the Snack Bar and Surf Shop building were constructed in the 1990s, they are in significantly worse condition than the Rotunda, which was constructed circa 1940, the report says. The effects of climate change on these three buildings cannot be ignored, the report says. Stronger and more frequent storms batter these buildings, as do storm surges that flood the lower levels. One has to consider how prudent it is to spend large amounts of money to save the two buildings that were constructed in the 1990s. These two buildings were not constructed well, and they will continue to be adversely impacted by storms and sea level rise.  The conditions of the Carousel and Snack Bar buildings are extremely poor and the buildings are not historically significant, according to the report. If the decision is made not to save the newer buildings, it may be possible to locate the retail function of the Snack Bar and Surf Shop in the Rotunda building, the report says. 'Difficult decisions will need to be made'  That recommendation will be disappointing to the thousands of people each summer season who buy twin lobster rolls and French fries at the snack bar and then enjoy them seated on the deck overlooking the beach and Easton Bay. The three buildings are joined with the bathhouses farther east by an elevated boardwalk at the second floor level. Difficult decisions will need to be made with respect to renovating these buildings at considerable cost or removing them, the report says. From the beach, looking north, the Carousel building is on the left of the Rotunda building and the Snack Bar and Surf Shop building is on the right, although the buildings are offset. If the two flanking buildings are taken down, the Rotunda would stand alone, besides the elevated bathhouses that are structurally sound. More:Rights-of-way offer easy coastline access  The Rotunda building, which was constructed following the Hurricane of 1938, is historically significant and is in somewhat better condition than the two buildings that flank it, the report says. It is our recommendation that the Rotunda be preserved and that opportunities for making it more resilient to storms than it currently is be explored.  The Rotunda houses Save the Bay aquarium exhibits on the first floor and has a fairly large event space on second floor where weddings and other events often are held. Hurricane Bob, one of the costliest hurricanes in New England history, hit the area in 1991. Based on historic photographs taken in the post-World War II era, the Carousel and Snack Bar buildings were built as one-story structures and the second stories were added in the 1990s, the report says. Some material from the historic buildings was incorporated into the 1990 renovations. More:Littered beaches, water quality getting better on Aquidneck Island, but work remains  The Carousel building has severe degradation of the exposed second-floor framing system, as well as the first-floor structure over the basement, the report says. All of the exposed steel structure showed excessive amounts of corrosion, including steel components installed during a 1993 renovation. The basement is suffering from underground water infiltration.  Carousel building has design failures and deficiencies  Riccio questioned a design that exposed steel continually to salt air and salt water. What should have been used, the report points out, are galvanized steel joists and beams. There are many other design failures and deficiencies in the Carousel building, according to the report. For example, there are no gutters on the building, which exacerbate the problems of deterioration in the wood trim and water infiltration under the overhead doors.  Addressing all these problems would be expensive. When talking about the deteriorated steel joists and beams holding the concrete deck connecting the top of the stair next to the Carousel building and leading to the Rotunda, the report says: Complete removal and reconstruction is likely the preferred solution.  Within the report there is an exhaustive exploration of deterioration in all three buildings, too many to list in detail. More:Middletown, Portsmouth give residents the beach parking edge. The Surf Shop and Snack Bar building is experiencing exterior wall failures due to water infiltration, which is leading to the corrosion of steel elements within the wall and degradation of the exterior wall veneers, the report says. Despite being the oldest of the three buildings, the Rotunda is in the best overall condition, the report says. There is, however, significant infiltration in the basement as well as deterioration of the windows and doors, the masonry, and the boardwalk construction.  While the Carousel building will remain closed, the Rotunda and Snack Bar and Surf Shop building remain operational, Riccio said. Now, it will be up to the City Council to make some decisions about the future of the beach complex. The council members could schedule a future workshop on the matter at the next regular council meeting on June 9, Riccio said.