ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. \u2014\u00a0The City of St. Pete Beach has approved plans to rebuild the historic Merry Pier bait shop in Pass-a-Grille, months after Hurricanes Helene and Milton left the popular waterfront landmark heavily damaged.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
St. Pete Beach City Council unanimously approve to restore popular bait shop at Merry Pier in Pass-a-Grille
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The city has set aside more than $144,000, but the project cost is still being worked out\u00a0
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Locals and tourists are excited about the decision to save the bait shop\u00a0<\/p>\n
City commissioners unanimously voted to restore the 123-year-old structure, citing its importance to tourism and its deep connection to the local community. Rather than tearing the building down, leaders say restoring the bait shop is an investment in the city\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
The closure has already had ripple effects for nearby businesses. Colleen Bouchard, who runs Shell Key Shuttle next to the vacant bait shop, says the empty building has noticeably reduced foot traffic along the pier.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey sold lots of cool stuff in there,\u201d Bouchard said. \u201cThey rented bicycles, sold bait, and it used to be a fish store where you could buy fish to cook at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the shop shut down after last year\u2019s storms, Bouchard says fewer people are coming onto the dock at all \u2014 even for simple stops.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur business has been down because nobody\u2019s just coming on the dock to go in and even just use the bathroom or buy some water,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
City officials say more than $144,000 has been budgeted for the rebuild, though early estimates suggest the final cost could be higher. Even so, Bouchard believes restoring the bait shop will be worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just going to bring more people down to the docks,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are people who\u2019ve lived in Pass-a-Grille for years and still don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on down there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Merry Pier has long been a favorite fishing spot, and for many residents, the bait shop is part of decades of memories. Tim Spelling, who has been visiting the pier since childhood, says the decision to rebuild preserves a piece of Pass-a-Grille\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been an institution down here,\u201d Spelling said. \u201cTwo thumbs up.\u201d<\/p>\n
While commissioners approved the rebuild, final plans are still being developed. City leaders have asked staff to return with a revised, scaled-down proposal aimed at lowering costs. Even with potential changes, officials say restoring the bait shop remains a priority for both residents and visitors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. \u2014\u00a0The City of St. Pete Beach has approved plans to rebuild the historic Merry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1011,2031,274,558,1190,4029,115,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,278,835],"class_list":["post-103991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-app-human-interest","tag-app-local-business","tag-app-top-stories","tag-business","tag-human-interest","tag-jeff-van-sant","tag-news","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}