On a weathered stretch of Lazy Way Lane in Key West, Florida, stands a nondescript, windowless white bunker that looks more like a forgotten warehouse than a temple of American music. Plastered with faded stickers and beaten by the relentless salt air, the former shrimp icehouse—known to the music world as Shrimpboat Sound Studio—is currently the center of a high-stakes tug-of-war following the death of its legendary owner, Jimmy Buffett, in September 2023.
As The Wall Street Journal recently reported, the battle over this humble structure has become a proxy war for the soul of Key West itself. On one side are the “Parrot Heads,” Buffett’s fiercely loyal fans, along with his family and former bandmates, who want to preserve the space as a working studio and cultural landmark. On the other are developers who see a prime opportunity to monetize the site in a city that is increasingly being swallowed by high-end tourism.
“The studio is iconic,” Florida author Carl Hiaasen told the Journal. Hiaasen, a longtime friend of Buffett who spent many hours inside the studio’s cool, quiet interior, expressed disbelief at the prospect of the building being repurposed. “I think it’s ludicrous that the city might turn it into something else. While they’re at it, why don’t they make the Hemingway house a Vrbo?”
The controversy ignited last year when Buffett’s estate canceled its lease with the city and emptied the building of its world-class recording equipment. Soon after, Key West officials opened the floor for public proposals on what to do with the vacant site. One prominent bid came from Spottswood Management, a developer that proposed a $25,000 plan to renovate the bunker into a margarita bar, museum, and retail space dedicated to the island’s fishing and arts history.
The reaction from fans was swift and “frisky,” as the Journal described it. To the Parrot Heads, who have already turned the building’s exterior into a makeshift shrine adorned with flip-flops and salt shakers, the idea of another bar in a city already saturated with them felt like a betrayal of Buffett’s low-key, creative spirit.
Buffett’s sister, Laurie McGuane, told the Journal that Shrimpboat Sound was far more than just a place of business. “It was the last place he recorded before he got sick,” she said, comparing its historical weight to Sun Studio in Memphis. “To me, it’s a very special place. If you get rid of this kind of stuff, you’re going to lose tourists.”
The Buffett family and the Coral Reefer Band have thrown their support behind a rival proposal led by a group including Mac McAnally, Buffett’s longtime guitarist and collaborator. Their vision involves restoring the building as a functional recording studio while adding an art collective and limited tours to make the site financially viable. The goal, according to McAnally, is to “keep the party going” while honoring the craftsmanship behind the music.
The magic of Shrimpboat Sound lay in its anonymity. Country star Kenny Chesney, a frequent guest at the studio, recalled the unique “vibe” of disappearing into a nondescript building filled with exceptional gear. “You could disappear into a completely nondescript building… then when you needed a break, you could go walk around Key West, inhale that ocean air and just absorb the energy of all the writers,” Chesney told the Journal.
Despite the passion on both sides, the Key West Bight Board recently rejected both initial proposals without providing a public reason. For now, the city remains in a state of “margaritaville” limbo, still accepting letters of interest while fans continue to lobby for a solution that respects the studio’s history.
As the city considers its next move, the debate highlights the tension between preserving the “old Key West” that Buffett popularized and the commercial realities of the modern island. For the fans who travel from across the globe to leave a memento at the studio door, the bunker on Lazy Way Lane isn’t just a building—it’s the last outpost of a lifestyle that Buffett spent fifty years building, one song at a time.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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