The squat, weather worn shack at the beachfront on Taylor Avenue that once housed the Full Sail bar finally came down on Monday in front of about a dozen spectators.
During its heyday in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the tiny lounge – perched on the edge of White Horse Beach – was home to a boisterous crowd of fun-seekers drawn by cheap drinks and a no-frills atmosphere that was the definition of “beachy.” Depending on your perspective, it was a treasured neighborhood gathering place or a dive. Maybe both.
The bar had been shuttered for years when it was ravaged by fire in 2016. It took nearly a decade more to finally raze what had become a blight on the landscape.
During Monday’s demolition, one of the workers salvaged beer glasses and a cocktail shaker he found inside and brought them to Roberta Capella, great-granddaughter of the bar’s original owner.
And then the old place was no more.
The town – which bought the property by eminent domain after a contentious process – plans to build a wheelchair-accessible path to the beach, improve a nearby 24-vehicle parking lot with gravel and landscaping, and possibly provide benches and shade sails like the ones installed at Stephens Field. The work is expected to begin this fall.
But getting to this point was harder than clearing out a bar of hangers-on after last call.
In 2024, the Community Preservation Committee voted unanimously to recommend buying six small properties at White Horse Beach, including the Full Sail site. The idea was to make easier for people to use White Horse Beach.
The town had tried to buy the decaying bar from owner Theodore “Skip” Fucillo, and a deal was finally reached in August with the help of former Select Board member Charlie Bletzer, who said he convinced Fucillo to sell. Town Meeting approved it in October. Under terms of the agreement with Fucillo, the town agreed to pay the appraised price of $655,000 for the six parcels and allocate another $220,000 to demolish the structure and make improvements once it was cleared away.
But three days after Town Meeting, Fucillo – who, it turned out, only had clear title to five of the six pieces of land – backed out of the agreement. He was embroiled in a dispute with William Adams over the ownership of the sixth parcel. The town eventually reached an agreement with the Adams family to take its lot by eminent domain for $260,000, and in February, it took all six lots by eminent domain. The five belonging to Fucillo went for $270,000.
The Full Sail deal was not the first time that the Community Preservation Committee had successfully proposed funding the purchase of a White Horse Beach property to restore open space in the congested Manomet neighborhood dominated by seasonal cottages, some of which have been converted for year-round living.
In previous years, the committee recommended funding the acquisition and demolition of two cottages on Taylor Avenue and the building of a sand dune in their place, as well as the purchase and demolition of a third cottage. Town Meeting approved both those purchases and the work was done.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.