ANNA MARIA – Commission Chairman Brian Seymour asked Mayor Dan Murphy if the new City Pier will be opened to the public before the interior buildout of the T-end buildings is complete.
“I’ve been getting a lot of questions about it,” Seymour said during the City Commission’s Thursday, Aug. 8, meeting.
“When can they actually, physically walk on the pier?” Seymour asked.
“That’s a complex question,” Murphy responded. “As soon as we possibly can.”
Murphy said the pier opening depends on who the city’s pier tenant is, what the tenant’s plans are and how much of the city-owned pier is leased to current pier tenant Mario Schoenfelder or some other pier tenant.
“As soon as that shell’s finished it would be great to open it up – that’s what’s in the back of my mind,” Murphy said.
“The buildout can go on inside the building. It shouldn’t be too disruptive to have people on the pier fishing and doing whatever. That would be the ideal situation, but it would only be fair to let the tenant weigh in on that,” he added.
Seymour asked if the city’s position was to allow people back on the pier once the main construction of pier-end buildings is complete.
Murphy said if he can reach an agreement with Schoenfelder this week, the city would like to allow people back on the pier while the interior buildout takes place – a process Murphy said could take 60 to 90 days to complete once the exterior shell is finished.
“We want access to the pier,” Murphy said.
Murphy said the public restrooms for the pier-end buildings must be completed before the pier can be opened to the public and the pier tenant is responsible for the bathroom fixtures.
The main pier structure is scheduled for completion during the first week of September. Frank Agnelli’s Mason Martin Builders will then begin constructing the restaurant and bait shop buildings. That work is expected to be completed by year’s end.
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