ANNA MARIA – The last concrete slab for the Anna Maria City Pier walkway was installed at the T-end of the pier on Friday, May 15, and Tampa Bay Marine can now begin installing the new pier walkway decking.
The Tampa Bay Marine crew is already installing the utility lines and other infrastructure elements on the underside of the walkway.
Mayor Mark Short said he expects the walkway to be completed by the end of June. He said the completed pier walkway will then provide the means for another work crew to access the T-end of the pier by foot, rather than boat or barge, to repair and remediate the two T-end buildings that survived the 2024 hurricanes.
The mayor and city commission have not yet decided whether some of the exterior walls will be removed from the larger pier building previously occupied by Mote Marine and replaced by sliding glass doors, or garage door-style bay doors, to create more open space for the public at the end of the pier.
The mayor and commission have not yet determined who will occupy the larger pier building, but the commission recently authorized Short to negotiate with current City Pier Grill tenant Brian Seymour and his new business partners, Ben and Jason Sato, for the potential lease of the larger pier space too.
The mayor previously said he anticipates the pier fully reopening in the fall, if all goes well. He also recently noted the opening could be delayed by the removal of the existing walls and the installation of the sliding doors.
