Rue the thought.
The owner of a delightfully kitschy Vilano Beach motel wants its toppled to make way for new development, according to reports.
Papers filed with the county indicate that the Magic Beach Motel — where the late Golden Girl’s short-lived show Safe Harbor was filmed in 1999 — is targeted for demolition.
According to a report from First Coast News, the motel’s manager, Tejal Patel, and contractor Fabio Fasanelli filed the razing request that is now pending approval.
The outlet noted that Fasanelli is involved with the development of a condo project named the Colonia just next door from the endangered art deco structure.
The county’s demolition documents note that making the Magic Beach Motel disappear could have an adverse cultural effect on the immediate area.
The property faced demolition four years ago for a proposed hotel, restaurant and shopping center but the project was rejected by the St. Johns County Board of Commissioners.
More than a quarter century ago, the neon-illuminated motel caught the eye of television producers as the perfect backdrop for Safe Harbor, a WB Network show that lasted 10 episodes before getting cancelled.
Set in a fictional Florida town called Magic Beach, the program centered around a widowed sheriff played by Gregory Harrison and his eccentric motel-owning mother portrayed by McLanahan.
The beloved actress — who passed in 2010 at the age of 75 — emerged as a major star during the ’90s thanks to her memorable run as melodramatic man-eater Blanche Devereaux on the smash hit series “The Golden Girls.”
The Citizen located several rare episodes of Safe Harbor in the deepest recesses of the internet, all of which featured bygone scenes filmed at the motel and in surrounding Vilano Beach.
More recently, Netflix used the property’s pool area to shoot its series 3 Body Problem.
A 1955 postcard picturing what was then called the Blue Ocean Motel boasts a range of amenities, including a “Culligan water softening system that eliminates all sulfur odors.”
The owners at the time, the postcard states, were a Mr. and Mrs. C. Tuccella.
