SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Leaders in\u00a0Safety Harbor\u00a0say they hope to reopen the city\u2019s iconic pier this summer after it was destroyed during the\u00a02024 hurricane season.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Safety Harbor pier was destroyed during the 2024 hurricane season.\u00a0
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A new pier nears completion, with hopes it will be open by the summer\u00a0
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Business owners are thrilled to see the new pier just months away from opening\u00a0<\/p>\n
Local business owners say the reopening could be a major boost for tourism \u2014 and for the small businesses that give the waterfront town its charm.<\/p>\n
Safety Harbor is known for its small-town atmosphere, filled with locally owned shops and restaurants along Main Street.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great coming down here because there is so much to do and see,\u201d said Tom Bassano, who owns Bassano Cheesecake Cafe. \u201cIt looks like a little town in America \u2014 it\u2019s got everything you want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bassano\u00a0says the shop has become a local favorite.<\/p>\n
\u201cOriginally we were known for the cheesecake \u2014 second-best cheesecake if we don\u2019t disrespect our mother,\u201d Bassano joked. \u201cBut our breakfasts have gotten \u2018Best in the Bay\u2019 awards, so a lot of people come in for our breakfast.”<\/p>\n
The caf\u00e9 is small but memorable, decorated with Christmas decorations all year long.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re walking around in this hot sun in the summer, when you walk in here you cool off in Christmas winter,\u201d Bassano said.<\/p>\n
Bassano says the pier has always been one of the town\u2019s biggest attractions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the pier went down after the hurricane and everything, it\u2019s almost like the town was a pretty girl but it had a bad haircut, so it’s nice to have people coming back,” he said.<\/p>\n
The original pier was destroyed during the 2024 hurricane season, leaving a noticeable gap in the waterfront area.<\/p>\n
City officials now say construction is moving forward quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pier looks substantially done. Right now they are working on some items \u2014 some electrical and some structural work,\u201d said Mayor Joe Ayoub.<\/p>\n
Leaders say the pier could reopen as soon as this summer.<\/p>\n
Just a short walk away at Kaia Bowls, the news is welcome.<\/p>\n
Owner\u00a0Anca Nastase, who has operated the shop for two years, says she hopes the pier will help bring more visitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are hoping to bring more and more people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Bassano says the loss of the pier slowed business significantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith it gone for two years, it did slow down business a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had probably the worst summer last year that we\u2019ve had, ever. So we\u2019re hoping everything gets back to normal and we get more people walking around and enjoying Safety Harbor.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pier isn\u2019t the only project underway.<\/p>\n
Just next door, the city\u2019s marina \u2014 which was also damaged during the 2024 hurricane season \u2014 is being completely replaced.<\/p>\n
From city officials to local shop owners, there is growing optimism that once the new pier opens, tourists will once again flock to Safety Harbor\u2019s waterfront \u2014 bringing new energy to the small businesses that define the town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Leaders in\u00a0Safety Harbor\u00a0say they hope to reopen the city\u2019s iconic pier this summer after it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[274,4029,115,596,135,137,136,278,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-182721","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-app-top-stories","9":"tag-jeff-van-sant","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-pinellas-county","12":"tag-tampa","13":"tag-tampa-headlines","14":"tag-tampa-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182721","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=182721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}