The end is in sight for the long wait to open Mote Marine Laboratory’s outreach center on the Anna Maria City Pier.
City commissioners unanimously voted March 23 to approve a special event permit — subject to fire marshal approval — for a 10 a.m. Friday, May 5, grand-opening ceremony for the Mote educational outreach center.
Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said the grand opening would include a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at City Pier Park, 103 N. Bay Blvd., and a celebration with live music at the pier.
Mote reached a contract with the city in September 2021 to lease the 1,800-square-foot building on the T-end to house the center.
The pier, originally built in 1911 and demolished following damage caused by Hurricane Irma in 2017, was rebuilt and reopened June 19, 2020, but the main building on the T-end remained vacant until now.
Plans for the outreach center include live exhibits with about 1,000 gallons of recirculating seawater, as well as several interactive exhibits, such as microscopes and a livestream display of water beneath the pier.
The live tanks will include:
- An invertebrate tank where people can touch urchins, sea stars, horseshoe crabs and more;
- A mangrove tank displaying the plants’ importance in local marine ecosystems and containing small fish and shrimp;
- A tank displaying a grass flat with killifish and stone crab;
- A tank with marine life from the waters surrounding the island.
Mote failed to meet the lease’s initial March 29, 2022, deadline to complete the interior build-out, but commissioners voted in April 2022 to extend Mote’s contract with new deadlines.
While Mote met the first of three new deadlines, it failed to apply for a certificate of occupancy by its March 10 deadline.
Mote requested a 14-day extension to apply for the CO, which the city approved, so March 24 became the new deadline for occupancy.
Murphy forwarded to The Islander a March 24 email from Mote vice president for communications and strategic initiatives Kevin Cooper notifying the city Mote had met the deadline.
Cooper emailed the city stating that “Mote has submitted all inspection requests required for the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. My understanding is that the inspections associated with those requests are scheduled for Tuesday (March 28),” Cooper wrote.
Murphy said he expected the inspections to go well since building official David Gilson has been keeping an eye on construction at the pier.
If the city grants the requested CO, Mote will begin its final steps to open the outreach center.
That includes the installation of live exhibits — which were created off-site — pumping and acclimating water for the sea life and populating the exhibits.
Commissioner Robert Kingan said he went to the pier earlier that day to check out work on the
outreach center and he was impressed with Mote’s progress.
Commissioner Charlie Salem recommended the city invite students from Anna Maria Elementary in Holmes Beach to be the outreach center’s first attendees.
Murphy said he liked the suggestion and would reach out to the Manatee County School District to see what could be arranged.