PASS-A-GRILLE, Fla. — The Gulf Beaches Historical Museum in Pass-a-Grille will open to the public Saturday for the first time since Hurricane Helene, marking two years since the storm damaged the museum and surrounding beach communities.

The event will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the museum. Organizers said visitors will be able to see a pop-up display, view the damage left behind and share Hurricane Helene-related stories for documentation.

“For nearly two years, the doors of the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum have remained closed,” said Jerry Sarubbe, vice president of the Friends of the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum.

Sarubbe said the building has remained largely locked since remediation work was completed after the hurricane. Only a small number of volunteers have been inside, he said.

Inside, parts of the museum remain damaged. Sections of flooring are missing, some walls are partially gone and other areas have been removed entirely.

Sarubbe said the museum once had exhibits throughout the room, pictures on the walls and wooden display cases across the center. Many of those materials were damaged or destroyed.

The Friends of the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum saved about 70% of the museum’s collection before Hurricane Helene reached the beach communities, according to Sarubbe. Most of the remaining items were destroyed by storm surge, including maps dating back to the early 1900s.

“We lost a wall back here,” Sarubbe said. “All of our heating and ventilation is under the building, so that’s nonexistent now. So we have no heat, we have no air conditioning.”

Kathy English, gift shop manager for the museum, said the public has been asking when the museum would reopen.

“It’s precious to us because this is our precious museum. It has all kinds of memories for everyone in the area,” English said.

Pinellas County owns the land where the museum sits, while the nonprofit operates the museum. The county said it is designing a FEMA-funded flood mitigation and repair project for the site.

According to the county, the project would elevate the museum’s three buildings above the 100-year floodplain, repair flood damage and help protect the site from future flooding.

Sarubbe said the Friends of the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum is waiting for the county to move forward with repairs.

“It’s up to them to fix it,” Sarubbe said. “So far we really haven’t seen anything.”