Demolition complete on ‘Old Dairy Dip’ building

A building that once housed arguably one of Chipley’s most popular eateries has now been erased from the city’s landscape. Widely referred to by locals as “the old Dairy Dip,” the building located at 1320 Jackson Avenue was demolished Thursday, June 13, just seven months after the City of Chipley foreclosed on the property due to more than $94,600 in unpaid code enforcement fines.
The building was constructed in 1956 on the .16-acre lot, most notably serving for decades as the Dairy Dip restaurant. The last private sale of the property was in January 2018 to James Caudle of Coalt Enterprises. The building has sat mostly abandoned during since that time, falling further into disrepair, becoming an eyesore, and assessing code violations due to the structure being deemed both unsafe and a public nuisance.
Caudle last went before the Chipley City Council in 2022 to request the opportunity to bring the property into compliance; however, officials state no improvement efforts were ever made.
“After multiple opportunities from the city council to work with the owner on clean up, the city decided to proceed with the foreclosure,” said City Attorney Michelle Jordan.
For now, the site will become a grassy lot, as the City currently does not have a plan in place for its use, citing that options are limited do the site’s small size and proximity to an arterial roadway.