A month after fire, Port Royal docks remain closed
Power remains out at the Port Royal seafood market nearly a month after a July 19 fire, and town officials said Monday it will cost from $10,000 to $20,000 to restore it.
Meanwhile, area shrimpers and fishermen remain without ice to preserve their catch.
Restoring power could also require at least another two weeks, town manager Van Willis said Monday, as the town and insurance company continue to sort through the fire's aftermath. One option the town is considering is to store ice on site, as it did before purchasing an ice machine and making other repairs to the dock during the 2013-14 fiscal year.But any potential solution could be a long way off, Willis said, because the insurance company's investigation is still underway.
"That's a must, in my opinion, to get power back there," Councilman Tom Klein said during a Town Council meeting last week.
Inventory is still being taken of what was lost in the fire, Willis said,
The S.C. Ports Authority, which owns the property and leases it to the town, has an insurance policy on the building, Willis said.
The town also has a policy to cover some of the building's contents.
Port Royal had spent the past two years updating the seafood market, which had only been reopened to the public a few weeks before the fire.
The lost equipment could total as much as $75,000, Willis said.
Before the fire, the town purchased shrimp from the shrimpers at the dock and sold it to large buyers in South Carolina and Georgia.
The market also included a walk-up business on Battery Creek off of 11th Street.
The market will be torn down after insurance investigators are finished, Willis said. The adjacent warehouse is probably headed for the same fate, he said.
"Everybody's going to investigate everything," Willis said. "That all has to be cleared before we can even begin demolition."
Fire investigators with Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department and the S.C. Law Enforcement Division ruled out arson in the blaze and left open the possibility of an electrical issue.
The nearby 11th Street Dockside restaurant sustained water and smoke damage from firefighting efforts.
Utilities have been restored to Dockside, but the popular seafood establishment remains closed while dealing with other issues, Willis said.
Owner Tom Oliva said in July the restaurant could be closed several months. He did not return a phone call Monday seeking comment.
Oliva's Lady's Island location remains open.
Follow reporter Stephen Fastenau at twitter.com/IPBG_Stephen.
Related content:
- Update: Port Royal seafood market lost in Sunday morning blaze + aftermath video , July 19, 2015
- Fire at Port Royal seafood market not arson, investigators say , July 20, 2015
- Popular 11th Street Dockside restaurant struggles to reopen after fire , July 21, 2015
This story was originally published August 17, 2015 at 9:07 AM with the headline "A month after fire, Port Royal docks remain closed."