Facelift: Staff are hard at work turning the concession from rundown beach bum to vibrant beach babe in time for its grand opening in two weeks. • Photo by Kageaki Smith.
Facelift: Staff are hard at work turning the concession from rundown beach bum to vibrant beach babe in time for its grand opening in two weeks. • Photo by Kageaki Smith.
The popular Tobacco Bay concession opens for business in two weeks after a heavy spring clean.

The property is now under new management and will be run by Stanley Harris and Nick Brown, who have innovative new plans for the beach site.

The friends have a five-year lease for the concession from the Corporation of St. George's.

Garth Rothwell, deputy mayor of St. George's, said: "The Corporation interviewed about four different groups and chose this one based on what they intend to do with the property.

"It's located on North Shore and gets a lot of salt, so the Corporation has been painting and retiling and refurbishing the bathrooms."

Plans for the concession include renting out kayaks and expanding the food and drink menu.

Mr. Brown, site manager, said: "This year we will have four or five kayaks available for beach-goers. We are contracting kayaks from Safari."

Lunch will be served daily and will include paninis and wraps.

Specialty coffees, ice creams and pastries will be available all day and tapas and snacks will be served at sunset.

Mr. Brown said: "We wanted more variety. Stan is a fisherman so we will have loads of fresh fish. It will all be local, not imported."

The concession will be from 10am until 7pm but Mr. Brown also hopes to offer special Friday night barbecues.

He added: "The previous managers did barbecues all the time because they are kid-friendly.

"Parents can sit and chill and the kids take care of themselves. It's very community-building.

"We will wait until we get going before we start up the barbecues in time for the school holidays."

The concession also sells beer and wine and will accept both cash and credit cards. It will close in October for the winter season.

Mr. Brown said: "It's a great snorkeling beach.

"There are tonnes of fish in the reef outside the bay and, unlike South Shore, there are few large swells.

"We have a really good working relationship with the Parks department, who come by regularly to clean up the seaweed."

Mr. Brown said they do not wish to encroach on the beach's natural beauty, so they will not provide items such as plastic straws in a bid to keep trash to a minimum.

Mr. Rothwell is pleased so far with the plans for the St. George's beach, which he called "very popular" with locals and tourists.

He added: "Last year we had lots of tourists catching the ferry down here for the beach.

The crew of the Majesty told their passengers it's a nice short walk from St. George's.

"Also, if it gets too crowded, the overflow can spill on to St. Catherine's beach."