Two years after Hurricane Helene, St. Pete Beach museum still awaits reopening

The Brief

Hurricane Helene pushed about 4.5 feet of water into the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum on St. Pete Beach.

Two years later, about 70% of the museum’s belongings have been salvaged, but the building remains closed to the public.

Pinellas County expects design work to begin soon, with a projected reopening in 2029.

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. – Two years after Hurricane Helene sent storm surge rushing into coastal communities across Tampa Bay, one St. Pete Beach museum is still waiting to reopen.

Pass-a-Grille museum flood impact

The backstory

The Gulf Beaches Historical Museum in Pass-a-Grille took on about 4.5 feet of water during Helene, damaging displays and other items inside the historic building.

The museum opened its doors for the first time since the storm on Saturday as part of an event allowing residents to share their stories and memories from the hurricane.

The Gulf Beaches Historical Museum dates back to 1917. The building was originally a church, later became a private residence and was eventually given to Pinellas County to be used as a museum.

When Helene’s storm surge reached Pass-a-Grille, water flooded the museum.

Board Vice President Jerry Sarubbe said about 70% of what was inside has been salvaged.

“There were some items that were water damaged. Most of those things were display cases, shelving. There were a few maps, binders, books,” he said.

Among the items saved were logs documenting the museum’s 25-year-old Pass-a-Grille Beach Sunset Bell tradition.

The bell has been rung every day except for four days during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even during Helene, a volunteer made sure the tradition continued.

Preserving Helene’s stories

Big picture view

The museum’s hurricane story event gave residents a chance to talk about what they experienced during Helene.

Organizers are collecting those stories as a kind of verbal archive, with the goal of eventually turning them into a multimedia presentation once the museum renovation is complete.

For residents who experienced the storm firsthand, organizers hope sharing those memories can help preserve what happened to the community.

Funding Pinellas County restoration

What’s next

The museum’s recovery is still in its early stages.

Representatives from Pinellas County, which owns the museum, recently toured the building.

County officials said the design process is expected to begin soon and take about a year before construction begins. The project is expected to be funded primarily through FEMA grants.

Sarubbe said, “A realistic projection on when we will reopen is going to be, I would say, 2029.”

Until then, museum volunteers and organizers plan to continue collecting stories and preserving the history of what Hurricane Helene did to the Gulf beaches community.

The Source

FOX 13 spoke with Gulf Beaches Historical Museum Board Vice President Jerry Sarubbe and Cory Brandt, Pinellas County’s Public Participation and Engagement Coordinator. FOX 13 also attended the museum’s Hurricane Story event and reviewed information provided by museum and county representatives about the building’s recovery and planned renovation.