{"id":452560,"date":"2026-11-10T10:48:22","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T10:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/452560\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T10:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T10:48:22","slug":"merry-pier-in-pass-a-grille-beach-considered-for-ferry-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/452560\/","title":{"rendered":"Merry Pier in Pass-A-Grille Beach considered for ferry hub"},"content":{"rendered":"

PASS-A-GRILLE BEACH, Fla \u2014 The small beach town of Pass-A-Grille could soon see a tourism boost!<\/p>\n

A local organization is proposing a ferry service that could stop at Pass-A-Grille\u2019s small pier.<\/p>\n

“It’s always been a working pier; it’s always brought people to our door,” said Amy Loughery.<\/p>\n

Up until two years ago, Merry Pier was a destination, but the pier was damaged by Hurricane Helene and the bait shack on the pier remains in shambles.<\/p>\n

“I’d say it’s the worst I’ve ever seen the pier in my 50 years\u2026but it’s had to be rebuilt a few times,” said Loughery.<\/p>\n

Jenn Morris works at Dody Beach Boutique and said business hasn’t been the same since the pier was damaged.<\/p>\n

“A lot slower, just because people are slow coming back to the area; a lot of new people have been coming in, which is really good,” said Morris.<\/p>\n

But the small beach town of Pass-A-Grille is resilient.<\/p>\n

\"Pass-A-Grill<\/p>\n

WFTS<\/p>\n

“The first year we kind of had to get back on our feet, but this last year has been strong,” said Loughery.<\/p>\n

The pier used to be a big driver for tourism and soon that tourism could return.<\/p>\n

“I think it would bring people down that aren’t usually\u2026maybe who haven’t even heard of Pass-A-Grille,” said Morris.<\/p>\n

A local organization called Forward Pinellas is proposing a ferry route\u2026that would stop at Merry Pier in Pass-A-Grille.<\/p>\n

“You get off the pier, you walk through the businesses, you go down to the beach, you have a lovely day, then you come back through our business district to our ferry boat and you go on your way,” said Loughery.<\/p>\n

Amy Loughery, who owns Bamboozle Boutique, said she\u2019s hoping a ferry would help alleviate parking issues in the area.<\/p>\n

\"Amy<\/p>\n

WFTS<\/p>\n

“What we need is people coming over on foot, and I think the ferry would deliver them to us,” said Loughery.<\/p>\n

Right now Forward Pinellas and St. Pete Beach leaders are discussing the potential for a ferry stop at Merry Pier\u2026but no official plans have been made yet.<\/p>\n

“It’s pretty fun to have another experience like that for people to come and visit,” said Morris.<\/p>\n

Share Your Story with Casey

Casey Albritton is dedicated to telling your stories throughout South Pinellas County. From St. Petersburg to Largo, she\u2019s there to share the triumphs and struggles of the community she calls home. So, let Casey know about the stories that matter to you.
.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Florida brain tumor patient says nearly $1 million in medical bills are now covered after insurance denial<\/p>\n

Five months after an insurance fight over brain surgery, Broqsten Bunt says he is medically cleared and has a zero balance on nearly $1 million in billed care.<\/p>\n

Brain surgery patients gets billed paid for after insurance denial<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PASS-A-GRILLE BEACH, Fla \u2014 The small beach town of Pass-A-Grille could soon see a tourism boost! A local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[109061,3945,175608,12317,3173,596,107032,202,2149,204,203,199,201,200,5910,3670],"class_list":["post-452560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-ferry","tag-forward-pinellas","tag-merry-pier","tag-pass-a-grille","tag-pier","tag-pinellas-county","tag-pinellas-news","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-beach","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa-bay-28","tag-tampa-bay-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452560","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=452560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}