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Overcast Beach Patrol Headquarters to be repositioned
City Manager: ‘We’re intent on moving it back’
Beach Patrol Headquarters, which was lifted off its foundation and slammed into the boardwalk at National Boulevard during Hurricane Irene, will be repositioned sometime this week, city officials said.
The headquarters has been stranded in the same position for a little more than a month after being hit by a strong storm surge from Irene, a storm which resulted in massive flooding, power outages and downed trees across the barrier island.
On Sept. 29, City Manager Charles Theofan said that after the long delay and several failed attempts to move the building back on its foundation, the city has enlisted in the help of Bay Crane Service Inc., that focuses in crane rental and specialized transportation solutions in New York, to reposition the lifeguard headquarters.
“They are a big supplier of cranes of all sizes,” said Theofan, who noted that since the hurricane, he has been reaching out for quotes from professional building movers. “They’re going to bring two cranes onto the beach to lift it."
Theofan said he was “not sure” which day the process will take place, or how much the effort will cost the city, but said that he has been in contact with officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and that the agency will reimburse the city because what unfolded with patrol headquarters was hurricane related. “It is something we’re going to be reimbursed for,” Theofan said.
Long Beach Chief of Lifeguards Paul Gillespie said his hope for the headquarters — which was built in 1982 — was that it could be lifted and put back in place, noting that though it “floated off” of its foundation, it remains intact.
“The main thing is getting it back on the foundation,” Gillespie said. “They tried it from the street before, but now they’re doing it on the beach. He added, “There’s no one on the beach anymore,” he said, “but it’s time to move it back on the foundation.”
Gillespie said that the wooden foundation has been repaired, and that lifeguards have been working out of their central facility on Edwards Boulevard boardwalk since Irene struck in late August.
