ANNA MARIA – City commissioners will soon be asked to reach consensus regarding the possibility of transforming the fully-enclosed City Pier building previously occupied by Mote Marine into an open-air space that utilizes “hurricane-proof” retractable sliding doors on at least two sides.
Mayor Mark Short presented the open-air building shell scenario during the Thursday, March 5 ,Anna Maria City Commission workshop. On Thursday, March 12, at 1 p.m., Short will seek commission consensus to move forward with getting price quotes to replace some of the pier building walls with sliding doors. If supported by the commission, the price quotes would be sought through the city’s request for proposals (RFP) process.
During the March 12 meeting, the commission will not be asked to decide whether the larger pier building previously occupied by Mote Marine will be utilized as a full-service restaurant, an open-air cantina or something else.
MAYOR’S PRESENTATION
Before discussing the future configuration and future use of the vacated T-end pier building, Short began the March 5 discussion by providing updates on the state of the City Pier walkway reconstruction, repair and remediation project.
Short said the total estimated cost of the pier project remains in the $7.1 million to $7.8 million range he previously estimated. He said, to date the city has spent slightly more than $2 million on the pier project and that includes engineering and design work, and the demolition work and debris removal needed for the pier walkway that was destroyed by Hurricane Milton in 2024.
Short included in his presentation a cost estimate that includes $700,000-$900,000 to repair the T-end platform decking and buildings, the bathrooms, the lighting and more. The total estimated cost also includes $500,000-$600,000 to install new electrical, water, sewage and natural gas lines and connections.
Regarding the project funding, Short mentioned the $1.25 million state appropriation approved last year, up to $2 million in recently approved county funds and FEMA’s recently stated obligation to provide $3.6 million in future reimbursements for the hurricane-related pier project. Short said the state, county and federal funding obligations total $6.84 million and the city will cover any remaining and additional costs.
FUTURE USE
Short noted current pier tenant Brian Seymour still has 15 months remaining on his five-year lease that was originally scheduled to be extended or allowed to terminate on Dec. 31, 2025. If Seymour decides to resume his pier-based City Pier Grill & Bait Shop operations in the smaller pier building, the remaining 15 months of the lease would resume when that space can be occupied and his business operations can resume.
Seymour also has the option to extend his existing lease for five more years. Seymour previously expressed interest in renegotiating his lease to include the larger pier building.
Short said the city has the option to expand Seymour’s current lease to include the larger pier building, but the city is not obligated to do so.
Short said he anticipates the city issuing a request for proposals (RFP) seeking multiple bids for the future use of the larger pier building.
Short told the commissioners he sees two viable options for the larger pier building: Keep the enclosed structure or issue an RFP seeking construction company bids to remove some walls and replace them with sliders. And after that, the commission would later determine the specific use for the open-air space.
Short said the open-air scenario would create an additional 96 seats at the T-end of the pier, but that scenario does not assume a full-service, sit-down restaurant operating in that space.
Commissioner Charlie Salem asked if the existing City Pier Grill building could provide the adequate kitchen space needed for the open-air scenario. Short said that might be a possibility.
Short said pursuing the open-air option might delay the reopening of the pier.
Short said an enclosed restaurant space would provide 50 seats for restaurant patrons but would not provide any additional seating space for Gulf Islands Ferry passengers who aren’t eating or drinking in the establishment.
Short said installing sliders for an open-area scenario might take the $700,000-$900,000 he estimated for the T-end of the pier closer to the upper end of that price range, but he doesn’t expect the slider installations would exceed his current $900,000 top end estimate.
Salem said the city needs to consider the immediate needs of the next pier building tenant while also being able to accommodate the needs of a different tenant 30 years from now.
Commissioner Gary McMullen said the sliders would provide more options as to how the pier building can be used and he’s in favor of opening that space up with sliders.
Short said the commission should proceed under the assumption that there will be a county-funded Gulf Island Ferry landing attached to the City Pier and that needs to be factored into the commission’s decision-making process.
“The county is pretty adamant about that ferry,” McMullen added.
Salem said the county’s engineers might be able to incorporate some passenger seating in their ferry landing design. Short said that’s possible, but the county hasn’t provided any recent ferry landing updates.
Short noted the county’s ferry landing design will require city commission approval.
Commissioner Kathy Morgan-Johnson said she’d like to know how the pier building is going to be used before deciding whether to open it up by installing sliders. “And then design around that,” she said.
Salem said the city should provide the building shell it desires and then it’s up to the next tenant to figure out how to utilize that leased space.
Short said issuing an RFP for the building modifications might delay the reopening of the pier. He noted the RFP process generally takes 60-90 days from the issuance of the RFP to the selection of the preferred bidder. Short said replacing walls with sliders provides the city greater flexibility regarding the future use of that pier space.
PUBLIC INPUT
During public input, Anna Maria resident Ray Hyer said the existing building shell should be left as is and the next tenant can plan accordingly. Hyer said he’s remodeled 13 houses and it’s always more complicated and more expensive than originally expected.
Seymour noted sliders are already in place along the one wall that served as the main entrance to the Mote Marine facility. Seymour said he would reserve his opinion as to whether the building should remain enclosed or be opened up, but he said the building is more valuable to the city if the tenant is provided dedicated seating space for a restaurant.
Anna Maria resident Barb Ehern said she likes the idea of people being able to use that pier space without being obliged to patronize the restaurant. She said the slider scenario would better serve city residents, the public and the ferry passengers.
“We should decide what we want there before we spend all this money opening it up and then maybe we change our mind,” Morgan-Johnson reiterated.
Short said taking no action on the building shell would default back to the current enclosed, four-wall scenario.
POST-MEETING THOUGHTS
After the meeting, Seymour said he was happy to hear Morgan-Johnson say she wanted the commission to determine the use of the building before determining whether to open it up by installing sliders.
Seymour said he’s concerned about the multiple RFP processes needed for the slider scenario further delaying the pier’s reopening.
He said the enclosed versus open-air scenarios will impact his decision on whether to resume his pier-based business operations.
“It’s two vastly different uses. One is a full-service restaurant on that side, with dedicated seating or one that’s very limited, with us using our existing space,” he said.
Seymour said he doesn’t think the 250-square-foot building that served as his City Pier Grill kitchen and food preparation space could adequately accommodate a larger restaurant.
He noted 77% of the people who responded to the city’s survey supported a full-service restaurant in the larger pier building and the majority of the Facebook comments he’s seen are in agreement.
Seymour thinks both pier buildings should be leased to the same tenant – as was the case when previous pier tenant Mario Schoenfelder leased both pier buildings for his restaurant and bait shop operations prior to Hurricane Irma’s arrival in 2017. Seymour said he’ll be disappointed if the mayor and commission decide to issue an RFP to open the larger building up without first meeting with him as the current pier tenant.
