Guilford's Little Red Shack overcome by rain and tide

An iconic shoreline structure under stress as storms rolled through the state Friday. Concerned residents in Guilford spent the day checking in on the Little Red Shack on Grass Island.

Some were fearful the structure would be sucked into Long Island sound, but it weathered the storm.

“I wanted to come down, make sure it was okay, is it floating out,” said Jill Cannon, who grew up seeing the shack just off the shoreline.

She was one of dozens stopping to get a glimpse of the structure teetering toward the sound.

“It's on the cover of local magazines, and in books, people come from all over just to take a picture of it, and go walk over on the island,” Cannon said.

Everyone stopping by tells a similar story. The Shack is iconic. Many claiming it is currently gracing their walls in their homes in picture or painting form.

Some even point out they have noticed a painted photo on the wall of Yale New Haven Hospital.

“Look out at the water, look at the shack and sort of gain some type of, I guess it’s a grounding sort of effect of the water and the shack and sort of the whole serene setting,” Raury Duffy said.

Duffy stopped when he heard from his mother about the shack in distress.

 “I think it has a special place in people’s hearts and I think people want to see it saved and preserved,” said Julie Gribbins, who stopped by to see the damage herself.

The scene was hard to look at near high tide, the water battering the porch supports on the outer part of the structure. As the water receded, the structure came to rest on the shore, still intact.

“It’s just kind of a quaint little thing, I think it harkens back to Old Guilford when it was more rural, and it was more of a fishing village. I think it reminds people of the history of the town,” Gibbins said.

The goal, according to the town, is the structure won't just be a part of the town’s history, but future, too.

“We have been concerned that something like this was going to happen,” First Selectman Matt Hoey said.

The first selectman said the town has been in the process of determining how to move the shack back from the shore 60 feet to higher ground. The start of the planned move was next Friday.

“We will make some kind of assessment on how we can either anchor it, or try to move it, or disassemble it and put it back together when we can,” Hoey said.

He said despite this setback, the goal remains the same.

“The Board of Selectman is fully committed to trying to whatever is necessary to preserve this iconic building here in Guilford," Hoey said.

Many are holding onto hope for the structure just hope it isn’t all a day too late.

“It will be good news when we see someone over here however they are going to be able to move it back, as soon as possible,” Cannon said.