Work has started on Port Royal’s former Dockside restaurant — here is what we know

The former Port Royal Dockside restaurant has sat empty since a fire in 2015, but in recent weeks, crews have been working to bring the building back to life.

The Coastal Restaurants and Bars restaurant group announced plans last year to turn the building into Fishcamp on 11^th Street.

The restaurant plans an August opening, said Abby Wirth, spokeswoman for the restaurant group.

The group runs eight restaurants on Hilton Head Island including The Crazy Crab, Reilley’s Grill & Bar and Aunt Chiladas. Fishcamp is the company’s first venture off the island.

“The menu will be similar to Fishcamp on Broad Creek,” Wirth said. “It will be a Lowcountry coastal cuisine. We will try to use local seafood whenever possible.”

Wirth said Tuesday that the building luckily was spared fire damage. She said a fire next door at a shrimp factory set off the sprinkler system inside Dockside that caused only water damage.

“It will be typical renovations for any building that has sat there for a couple of years,” Wirth said.

The former Dockside restaurant operated at the port for more than 25 years.

The restaurant is part of the Port of Port Royal site, 317 acres — 51 buildable acres — purchased by Grey Ghost Properities for $9 million in September.

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 10:22 AM with the headline "Work has started on Port Royal’s former Dockside restaurant — here is what we know."