Did you hear the cheers?
A proposal for a marine discovery center on the Anna Maria City Pier caught a wave of enthusiasm Feb. 10 from city officials and also interested citizens planning to make their own pitches.
Mote Marine Laboratory floated the idea of opening an outreach-marine life education center in the vacant building on the south side of the new pier’s T-end.
Anna Maria commissioners held a public meeting Feb. 10 on the pier to discuss options for the 1,800-square foot building, one of two buildings on the pier at 100 N. Bay Blvd., Anna Maria.
The pier was built after the historic pier was damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017 and demolished. Before that, the larger of the two buildings at the T-end of the pier housed a full-service restaurant and another housed a bar and bait shop and restrooms.
The new smaller building now houses the City Pier Grill & Bait Shop, co-owned by Brian Seymour, Nick Graham and Vic Mattay, who also have businesses on Pine Avenue in Anna Maria. The second building remains vacant after several attempts by the city to contract a restaurant operator.
At the Feb. 10 meeting, staged in the vacant building, as piergoers dined outside at picnic tables and anglers cast their lines from the deck, commissioners and others sat on folding chairs to mull ideas.
Mote representatives — Michael Crosby, president and CEO; Evan Barniskis, vice president of the aquarium; and Aly Busse, vice president of education — presented their plan to partner with the city on the space.
The Mote center would include exhibits showcasing local marine life, said Barniskis.
Based in Sarasota, Mote also operates exhibits and discovery centers in other areas of Florida, including Key West and Islamorada.
A Mote center on the pier would serve as a lab to study marine life and the surrounding ecosystem. The lab “will help scientists learn and predict red tide activity while engaging the community directly to be active volunteer citizen scientists,” Crosby said.
The buildout would cost about $500,000 and take five months, Crosby said.
And, he said, the funding for the center would fall to the city.
And commissioners appeared to support the financial challenge.
And it might not be too big a challenge.
Manatee County Commissioner Misty Servia, who also chairs the county tourist development council, attended the meeting.
“The TDC is definitely a resource they could turn to,” Servia said Feb. 11 in a phone interview with The Islander.
The TDC makes recommendations to the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners regarding projects in the tourist development plan and has the final say on how tourist development tax revenue is spent.
“I love Mote’s mission. I love the idea; it’s just a great opportunity,” Servia said. “If we can leverage our tourist tax dollars and do something to help protect our waters and educate residents and visitors, why wouldn’t we?”
After the buildout, the city’s ongoing expense would be the cost of utilities, while Mote would be responsible for the $500,000 estimated annual operations cost, Crosby said.
Servia wasn’t the only one on board with Mote.
City Commissioner Joe Muscatello said at the meeting if a vote was called, he would cast his in favor of the project.
But the meeting was a workshop, an opportunity for city commissioners and others to review five proposals.
Another idea is to rent out the space for special events — holiday parties, dances, presentations, expositions, art shows and celebrations.
But, Mayor Dan Murphy said, weddings would not be permitted due to the associated logistics.
Another idea is a full-service restaurant.
However, commissioners said that had been pursued and declined for a number of reasons.
Creating space for a gift or souvenir shop is another option.
And a fifth option would include a mixed-use of the building.
Commissioners and others, including Graham and Seymour, the operators of the bait shop and take-out restaurant on the pier, favored the Mote partnership.
But Murphy said jumping at the first good idea to come along would be irresponsible and he wants options fully considered.
“A lot of input and thought is needed from the public and commission,” Murphy said.
Another meeting to discuss the pier options will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, on the pier.
People with suggestions for the building’s use can attend the meeting or email Murphy at ammayor@cityofannamaria.com or call 941-708-6130, ext. 124.
Well said. I agree whole-heartedly. It looks like Mote wishes to have a kiosk type of installation as a means to market its main business operations and its huge new project out near I-75 in Sarasota County. It needs to get feet in its doors. My family and I have been to the Mote Aquarium on City Island several times and enjoy it. However, Anna Maria does not need to dedicate its valuable resources to promoting the business of Mote. If the pier can produce some income on behalf of Anna Maria taxpayers, I would think that the Commissioners have an obligation to explore those avenues first. If Mote wants a display area in Anna Maria, let it look to another location. We dearly miss the City Pier Restaurant, one of our favorites.
A small educational installation, particularly relating the kinds of fish fished for on the pier would be a nice thing. However, taking up the entire building leaves a lot to be desired.
There needs to be some sort of restaurant there…to make the pier a pleasant destination. How about a small bait and tackle shop…like at the Rod and Reel Pier…otherwise it puts fishermen at a real disadvantage and reduces the effectivness of the newly built pier.
If Mote wants to do an educational exhibit…fine…but it should at least be financially self supporting. It should, not take away from the rent that otherwise would be raised. There should be no subsidization of it. Mote always tries to make the public see it as a resource. However the fact of the matter is that Mote is always looking with its hand out for more public funds, and it almost never allocates any of its philantopic income to anything in the community. All the donations, including governmental subsidization, go toward paying for its administration.
Any Mote presence at the pier should not cost the public one dime. If Mote is a resource, it should not ask for anything.