DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.,None — The Daytona Beach pier may undergo another makeover, with a new restaurant set to open in May.
As part of the makeover, city leaders could decide to pull down the historic Daytona Beach space needle that towers above the beach at the main street pier.
Beach-goers like Wally Gardner couldn't imagine the pier without the 180-foot tower.
"I've been here since 1989, and it's been here all that time," Gardner said.
But after 42 years, they might soon have to, if the city goes ahead with a proposal to tear the thing down.
The attraction was once a ride, but it closed in 2005 after it froze, and passengers were stranded in the gondola for more than an hour.
If the city decides not to tear it down, then Joe's Crab Shack, which is opening a new restaurant on the pier in May, could decide to use it to hold a giant sign advertising the restaurant.
To tear it down will cost the city $80,000. To restore it could cost even more: an estimated $130,000.
But the city says with that option, it could recoup the money by charging Joe's Crab Shack rent for the sign.
No matter what city leaders decide, the view along Daytona Beach will likely be changing.
A court ordered it torn down in the 1970s after controversy about whether it should have even been built on the beach, but a higher court overturned the ruling.
Commissioners are expected to vote on this issue in early April.