The good news: Anna Maria is on track to open its city pier in February 2020.
The bad news: The restaurant and bait shop being constructed on the T-end will not open until mid-2020 — or later.
The old pier was closed after it was damaged by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. It was demolished by the city in 2018.
While the new pier remains on track for a February opening for fishing, the dates for the opening of the restaurant and bait shop are not determined, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy wrote in a Dec. 18 email to The Islander.
The delay is due in part to ongoing contract negotiations with current city pier tenant Mario Schoenfelder, who also owns the Rod & Reel Pier in Anna Maria.
Anna Maria commissioners voted unanimously Nov. 26 to grant Schoenfelder, whose current lease expires in December 2020, an extension from Dec. 13 to Dec. 31 on his final offer deadline for a new lease.
Schoenfelder requested the extra time to perform a cost analysis based on the floor plan and equipment that will be needed in the bait shop and restaurant.
As of Dec. 20, he had not submitted his final offer.
If negotiations with Schoenfelder fall through, the city commission intends to issue a request for proposals to attract a new tenant.
“If he submits his proposal by Dec. 31, the commission needs adequate time to do analysis of his offer, maybe 10-12 days,” Murphy said. If rejected, the city commission would post the RFP within a few days.
“The plan as it stands now, barring any further unexpected delays, is to have the pier open for visitors and fishing by the end of February,” Murphy said. “The finished bathrooms will be required at that time. The restaurant and bait shop will open once a tenant has been selected and the interior build-out is completed. That could potentially occur as early as mid-2020.”
Mason Martin, the contractor hired by the city to construct the buildings at the T-end, continued work the week of Dec. 16, framing and installing windows and siding.
The bait shop and restaurant building shells should be completed by the first week of 2020, Frank Agnelli, owner of Mason Martin, told The Islander Dec. 12.