The Anna Maria City Pier’s rebuilder has been chosen.
City commissioners unanimously voted Sept. 30 to select Gibsonton-based Tampa Bay Marine Inc.’s $4,641,239 bid to rebuild the pier’s walkway, which was destroyed last year by hurricanes Helene and Milton.
When the city pier was built in 2019-20, the walkway was constructed with lesser specifications than the T-end — which remained intact through the 2024 storms — in an effort to reduce the project’s total cost.
The walkway will be rebuilt with the same specifications as the T-end, so it will rest on solid concrete pilings instead of spun cast concrete piles and be supported by concrete bents instead of wooden bents.
The city received bids from nine contractors in response to a request for proposals posted in July.
TBM’s bid was by far the smallest of the bunch — almost $800,000 less than the second-least expensive bid.
Bradenton-based Quality Marine Construction Inc.’s $12,157,484.56 bid was the largest.
Mayor Mark Short said he reviewed the bids with city staff and St. Petersburg-based George F. Young, the city’s contracted engineering firm, and recommended the selection of TBM’s proposal.
He said the city’s initial estimates to fully rebuild the pier ranged from $7 million-$9 million, but TBM’s bid brought that estimate down to $6.2-$6.9 million.
The bid includes engineering, inspections, walkway demolition and rebuild, fixes to the T-end structure and buildings, as well as remediation.
Short said while TBM builds the walkway, a third-party contractor will tackle some work on the T-end, such as clearing the two buildings of equipment and debris so repairs can begin with city oversight.
T-end work will include roof and siding repairs, replacing doors, redoing bathrooms and deck repair. The city will take bids for the work.
Short also said a barge was set to arrive in three weeks for the clearing work.
“We’re attacking this on both ends. We’re not going to wait until the walkway is done before we deal with the T-end,” Short said.
As for a timeline for the walkway rebuild, the RFP stipulates that the contractor must be out of the water by the end of March 2026.
By that point, pilings should be driven and decking should be ready for installation, among other things, so it is not a final completion date.
Short said he still expected to reopen the rebuilt pier next Fall.
Brian Seymour, co-owner of the City Pier Grill & Bait Shop, asked during public comment if there was any news about Sarasota-based Mote Marine Laboratory’s future on the T-end.
Short said he had yet to receive a commitment “one way or the other” from Mote about its potential return to its Marine Science Education and Outreach Center.
Pier rebuild bid amounts
The city of Anna Maria received nine bids to rebuild the city pier’s destroyed walkway, including bids of:
- $12,157,484.56 from Bradenton-based Quality Marine Construction Inc.;
- $10,349,765.20 from Palm Harbor-based Southern Road and Bridge LLC;
- $7,598,747.16 from Panama City-based RJ Gorman Contracting LLC;
- $7,466,298.07 from West Palm Beach-based YC Group LLC;
- $6,482,550 from Texas-based Russell Marine LLC;
- $6,148,224 from West Park-based Shoreline Foundation Inc.;
- $6,141,153.09 from Washington-based Ballard Marine Construction LLC;
- $5,389,225.45 from Fort Pierce-based Underwater Engineering Services Inc.;
- $4,641,239 from Gibsonton-based Tampa Bay Marine Inc.
— Ryan Paice