ORLEANS, Mass. — A popular fried clam shack on Cape Cod is awaiting its fate after a powerful nor’easter caused extreme beach erosion and put it at risk of collapse.

The Orleans Board of Selectmen is expected to vote Monday on whether to raze Liam’s seafood shack on Nauset Beach. The summertime eatery has been a staple for the Cape Cod beach crowd since it opened in the 1950s.

Town officials say an engineer is evaluating the town-owned structure’s integrity. Liam’s owner John Ohman says the coastal storm that hit March 2 chewed away much of the sand under the building’s foundation.

The eatery originally opened as Philbrick’s Snack Shack. Ohman took it over in 1990 and renamed it after his son, Liam, who was born that year.


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