They said yes!
Manatee County commissioners unanimously voted June 8 in favor of spending $500,000 to prepare the vacant 1,800 square-foot space at the T-end of the Anna Maria City Pier, 100 S. Bay Blvd., for a Mote Marine Laboratory outreach center.
The funds are raised from a 5% bed tax on accommodations of six months or less. The Manatee County Tourist Development Council recommended approval earlier this year.
With live marine exhibits, seminars, workshops and other educational components along with community partnerships, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy told county commissioners the center would be an asset to the county and the entire west coast of Florida.
They heartily agreed.
“I think it is one of the most exciting projects from an educational and tourist development standpoint. So I’m really excited that we’re going to see this come to the Anna Maria pier,” Commissioner Misty Servia said. She chairs the TDC.
County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, whose District 3 encompasses Anna Maria Island, said the center is “exactly what we should be using the bed tax for.”
Van Ostenbridge said his family has a history with the pier and he shared a couple of stories about his grandfather, who helped drag a beached whale back into Tampa Bay and also helped rebuild the pier after Hurricane Elena caused damage in 1985.
Of course, the pier of Van Ostenbridge’s grandfather’s day is now gone — damaged by 2017’s Hurricane Irma and later demolished.
The pier that stands in its place was built with funding assistance from the TDC, Murphy said.
When Murphy shared the news at an Anna Maria City Commission meeting May 10, he received a round of applause from attendees.
While the county commissioners approved Murphy’s funding request, he said they must sign an interlocal agreement, which a county legal team will draw up for review when county commissioners return July 27 from a monthlong recess.
Another step Murphy said has to happen before construction is finalizing the agreement with Sarasota-based Mote, including a contract for construction and a 10-year lease for the space.
The contract should be straightforward as most of it is laid out in a memorandum signed in March by the mayor and Mote CEO Dr. Michael Crosby, Murphy told The Islander June 10.
Waiting for the interlocal agreement, however, could delay bids for construction and therefore delay the project, which was initially anticipated to be ready for the public in October.
How Mote came to the pier
After the historic city pier was deemed a loss by the insurer in the wake of damage caused by Hurricane Irma, a new pier was constructed and opened last summer.
The historic pier housed a restaurant and bait shop.
When the new pier opened, a team of Pine Avenue businesspeople — Brian Seymour, Nick Graham and Vic Mattay — opened City Pier Grill & Bait Shop, a take-out food operation and beer and wine bar — in the smaller of two buildings at the T-end of the pier.
The city heard and dismissed a number of proposals to open a full-service restaurant before Mote came to the city.
In February, the commission selected the Mote project. In March, it approved the Mote agreement.