A derelict seaside shelter that has become a magnet for anti-social behaviour could be given a new lease of life as an outdoor dining space with live music.

Restaurant tycoon Paul Glicksman, who spent £170,000 refurbishing Marina’s cafe in Margate, is hoping to take on the Victorian structure, which has attracted trouble next to his business in Marine Drive.

The idea is to transform the space below into a dining area, which will be managed by the team at Marina’s, with music, festoon lights and pop-up events.

Mr Glicksman said: “I refurbished the cafe over the last 10 months and I kept looking next door at the shelter.

“We have had homeless people, we've had drug dealers, and we've had all sorts going on there, and I just thought that it wasn't beneficial to Margate or the community or the tourists.

“I feel that I could make it a place that everybody would want to go to for music, food, drinks, and maybe I can put some pop-up things on there as well.

“I want to completely refurbish it, paint it and put up festoon lighting to make it a place that Margate would be proud of.”

Mr Glicksman is drawing up the proposals and hopes to submit a planning application to Thanet District Council (TDC) as soon as possible.

If all goes to plan, he hopes to have the shelter open for business by next summer.

A separate planning application for the top half of the structure has been put forward by neighbouring business Sundowners.

The bar wants to play music on the terrace, but a decision on the application has been delayed to assess noise levels amid fears of “an intolerable effect on residents”.

Despite the struggles Sundowners has experienced, Mr Glicksman says he only plans to play music until 9pm and wants to bolster security as part of proposals.

“Through lockdown, we had a security company watching over our premises, where we were shut,” he said.

“I've spoken to them again because we would like to have security monitor the shelter in the evenings when we're closed so that we don't encounter the problems that have gone on over the last few years with drug dealing and fighting.

“Security staff would come and monitor it every couple of hours throughout the night, every day.

”We're probably looking to open all day until about 9pm. We don't want to go much later than that because we're very mindful of the residents and we don't want to cause a problem at night for them with any sort of noise.”

Cllr Sam Bambridge (Con), who has shown support for Mr Glicksman’s idea, believes the shelter could benefit from proper management.

The Thanet Villages ward councillor said: “I just can't see how there's anything that's bad about this idea.

“It would be great to have somebody looking after that shelter, which unfortunately has suffered from some neglect, and Paul plans to redecorate it and put tables out there for alfresco dining, and it's just a great extension to our Margate tourism offering.

“There's been incidences where people have set fire to the chairs and haven't treated it with much respect.

“So it would be really lovely to have it in the hands of a capable businessperson like Paul.”

Mr Glicksman, a former motor home dealer, even has the backing of the town’s mayor, Cllr Jack Packman, who says the structure is “a bit of an eyesore”.

“Anyone who has got passion like Paul is absolutely welcome in Margate,” he said.

“We're not seeing big corporate chains come in, we're seeing local business people come in, investing in the town, creating jobs for local people and that's what it's all about.

“If the residents don't get behind it, then we're just going to have more empty shops.

“And the biggest complaint that we get as councillors is, ‘what are you doing about the high streets or the seafront, or the empty buildings?’.

“And it fits into the regeneration of the town. The town 10 years ago was a sorry sight.

“So I’m really pleased, and welcome Paul to the town and we will support him as much as we can through planning and the licensing.

“Sometimes as a local authority we just steam ahead, but Paul's a local guy so I don't think there's any reason not to get behind this.

“He's not asking to have live music until the early hours of the morning, he's simply looking to take something that looks terrible and make it into something brilliant.”

Thanet Ch Insp Ian Swallow said: “Our local beat officers have worked with TDC to address incidents of anti-social behaviour in the Victorian shelter on Margate seafront.

“This is part of our wider work to tackle nuisance behaviour in the town which, earlier this month, saw a dispersal order put in place and a teenage boy arrested in the High Street.

“I believe this work has contributed to the 41 per cent drop in anti-social behaviour reports we saw in Margate Central ward between the 12 months to July 2024 and the same period in the previous year.”

Mr Glicksman bought Marina’s at the end of last year and after 10 months of renovations, the cafe opened earlier this month.

He has refurbished the whole place and even hopes to create a roof terrace upstairs in the future.

The 62-year-old ventured into the hospitality industry in 2018 after retiring and has a reputation for transforming venues, such as Frederick’s Tearooms and St Mildred’s Bay bistro, both in Westgate.

In 2021, St Mildred’s Bay opened as a glass-fronted restaurant and wine bar after Mr Glicksman renovated the former Pav’s building, investing £200,000.

In July 2022, he then opened the Spitfire Cafe in Manston, previously called The Spitfire.