ANNA MARIA – The Anna Maria Island Historical Museum hosted a soft reopening celebration on Feb. 25 that highlighted the museum’s ongoing recovery from Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Inside the museum, attendees viewed restored historical exhibits and a digital photo collage of the hurricane damage. Outside the museum, attendees enjoyed free wine, snacks and live music performed by Mike Sales.
Located in a city-owned building at 402 Pine Ave. in Anna Maria and offering free admission, the museum is staffed by AMI Historical Society members and volunteers.
Historical Society President Carolyn Orshak said, “We are so blessed to be at this point today with the museum. Our job is to preserve history and so many people in this community have helped. It looked like a bomb went off inside. Our artifact displays were crushed with the artifacts in them. I saved and restored our archeological items but we lost some clothing and a lot of written history. But because of the Island newspapers, we’re able to re-access that history.” The Anna Maria Island Sun print archives are stored at the museum. Orshak said grant money is being used to scan historic documents and photographs and preserve them digitally.
Orshak said the annual Heritage Day festival will be held at the museum on Tuesday, March 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and regular museum operations are expected to resume before then. She also said Historical Society’s weekly Settlers Bread sales will also resume at the museum soon.
The city of Anna Maria paid for the repairs and renovations and Mayor Mark Short attended the soft reopening.
“The museum is an instrumental part of this city,” he said. “We’re excited about the renovations and the museum soon being open again. This checks another box in the city’s recovery.”
Museum docent David Haddox said, “The museum sustained a fair amount of damage. We lost some things, but we preserved a lot of one-of-kind items and this soft opening is an opportunity to make the community aware that we’re here.”
The AMI Historical Museum expects to resume regular operations soon. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
Mikes Sales performed outside the Old City Jail. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
These exhibits highlight military service and fishing. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
This museum exhibit survived the hurricanes. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
Some attendees viewed a photo collage of the hurricane damage. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
The soft reopening included tours of the historic Belle Haven Cottage. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
The museum sells books that help tell the history of the Island. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
The AMI Historical Museum is located at 402 Pine Ave. in Anna Maria. - Joe Hendricks | Sun
