If you operate social media, you’ve probably heard of the 10-yr assignment. It basically calls on customers to publish a then-and-now photo of themselves to look at how a great deal they have modified within the last decade.
Since this weekend is the unofficial kick-off to the summer tourism season at Hampton Beach, we notion it would be amusing to put one in every of New England’s preferred beaches to the test.
The outcomes display plenty can happen in only 10 quick years.
Ten years in the past, Hampton Beach officers were an assembly to talk about rejuvenating the boardwalk and enticing new development.
A fireplace had taken out the complete A block, and officers were involved that place could stay barren, just like what had occurred after the 1999 hearth that destroyed the Old Salt and numerous beach businesses.
The Seashell Stage changed into literally crumbling. The lavatory centers were places that you avoided.
The boardwalk resembled what it looked like inside the 80s and 90s — simplest, more tired and run down.
Flash forward, and also you, without a doubt, can see how some distance the location has come in only a decade.
The city of Hampton’s $12 million sewer infrastructure improves along with the country’s $14.5 million investment to construct new restroom facilities, and a new Seashell Stage planted the seed for the whole lot-needed facelift.
Developers built new groups and condominiums where the Old Salt stood and the A Block became rebuilt.
Business proprietors followed fit with motel and restaurant owners like at the Sea Ketch, Boardwalk Cafe, Pelham Hotel, and Hampton House Hotel, all undergoing foremost renovations and upgrades. The rundown nightclub Guido Murphy’s turned into Ocean Gaming, even as the Hampton Beach Casino acquired tons of wished TLC from new proprietor Sal Lupoli.
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Al Fleury persisted in extending his commercial enterprise empire via pouring money into upgrading Wally’s Pub. He additionally tore down La Bec Rouge and replaced it with the famous out of doors Bernie’s Beach Bar and transformed the Happy Clam into the Goat, the primary united states bar of Hampton Beach.
The enhancements have additionally spurred an inflow of excessive-quit condominiums like the improvement that changed Brownie’s Hotel, which proudly advertised “Color TV” on its sign until they shuttered the commercial enterprise in 2016.
Old cabins with no insulation have also been changed by way of multi-story apartment complexes where proprietors can live 12 months-round.
And the changes maintain to nowadays with McGuirk’s Ocean View undergoing a protection/addition subsequent yr with an outside deck.
While the boardwalk has been modified, it hasn’t misplaced what made the location so unique to start with.
The Casino Ballroom continues to be bringing the “stars to the seaside,” and the Seashell Stage is the house to free entertainment all summer season long.
Blink’s Fry Doe remains serving up the fine-fried dough, and Buc the Pirate, the 27-foot tall, 15-foot huge ceramic pirate, nevertheless stands tall overlooking Buc’s Lagoon mini-golfing.
And of a path, the biggest draw of all will always be the seaside itself.
So if you haven’t been to Hampton Beach in a while, don’t simply take our word for it. Instead, take an afternoon trip and test it out.
