Pass-a-Grille's Old Buildings Are Coming Back Under Three Different Rulebooks

"Yes, it's horrible, and don't forget about it," Jerry Sarubbe told 10 Tampa Bay about Hurricane Helene. "But don't live in it."

Sarubbe is vice president of the Friends of the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum. He was explaining why the museum's anniversary evening on Saturday, Sept. 26, came with balloons, streamers and an ice cream social. For two hours, from 5 to 7 p.m., the public could walk into the building for the first time since the storm. When the event ended, the doors closed again.

This September, three of Pass-a-Grille's oldest surviving buildings each reached a decision point: the museum, the Merry Pier bait shack and the cottages at Island's End. Each has a different owner and is being rebuilt under a different rule. That rule, more than the building's age or the affection behind it, sets when the neighborhood gets it back.

The 1917 museum is on the county's timeline

The museum building dates to 1917. Its collection traces the history of Pass-a-Grille and the Gulf beaches through photographs, postcards and documents. Workers and volunteers moved about 70% of the collection out before Helene arrived. Some pieces could not be replaced, including maps more than a century old. Visitors on Sept. 26 found sections of flooring missing and some walls partly gone.

Pinellas County owns the property, so the county controls the clock. It is designing a FEMA-funded project to repair the storm damage and raise the museum's three buildings above the 100-year floodplain. Cory Brandt, a county engagement coordinator, told 10 Tampa Bay that design should begin soon and take about a year before construction can start. Museum officials are targeting a permanent reopening sometime in 2029.

Elevating the buildings is the slowest route. It is also the one meant to keep the site out of the next surge. While they wait, the Friends group is working on what it can do now. It opened a Hurricane History pop-up exhibit and began recording residents' Helene stories as a spoken archive. The plan is to turn those recordings into a multimedia presentation when the museum reopens.

The bait shack has a dollar ceiling

The Merry Pier bait shack at 801 Pass-a-Grille Way is 15 years older than the museum. Joseph Merry built a dock and the first store on the Gulf beaches there in 1902, selling bait, tools and later groceries brought in by boat. In 1979 the Eighth Avenue Pier was named for his son, Capt. Kenneth B. Merry. The structure has never been designated historic and is not eligible for that status. It falls under a different rule, the FEMA 50% rule.

The figures city staff presented explain the scaled-down rebuild. The shack was appraised at $210,000. Rebuilding it to current building and FEMA standards was estimated at $210,682, before design and permitting. Insurance would cover $82,121, and demolition alone would cost $65,688. Because the building sits in a high-risk coastal flood area, a substantial-damage finding would have required a full rebuild to current code elevations. Commissioners voted unanimously to restore it in a smaller form. The bid documents the city published in July set a hard limit: repairs must cost less than $105,000 to comply with the FEMA 50% rule.

The timeline is short once work starts. The contractor must begin within 30 business days of notice to proceed and finish within 90 calendar days of starting. Bids opened Aug. 5. The city's bid page lists the solicitation as closed but shows no award or selected contractor. The city's August 2026 capital-plan snapshot lists "Merry Pier bait shack demolition" as in design or procurement.

A second clock runs on the same pier. The operator's lease expired in February 2026, and the city did not renew it. On Aug. 19, the City Commission voted unanimously for Resolution 2026-25. It demands that the operator surrender the city-owned premises by 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 30. If the operator stays, the city plans to seek possession in circuit court. The city also disputes a claimed five-year lease covering the whole pier. As of this writing, no public report shows how the deadline was resolved. The resolution does not say when public fishing-pier access will resume or which services will continue afterward.

Miss Pass-A-Grille still advertises daily deep-sea fishing trips from Merry Pier. Shell Key Shuttle still advertises its ferry and sunset cruises and asks riders to call ahead for the schedule. In January, Colleen Bouchard, who runs the shuttle next to the empty shack, told Bay News 9: "Nobody's just coming on the dock to go in and even just use the bathroom or buy some water."

Island's End took the preservation route

At the southern tip of the island, Island's End Resort sits at 1 Pass-a-Grille Way on about half an acre with water on two sides. On Sept. 10, St. Pete Beach's Historic Preservation Board voted unanimously to give local historic status to its three surviving cottages, built around 1946 and 1950. A fourth historic rental building was heavily damaged by Helene and Milton and later demolished.

The land's history predates the cottages. From 1942 through 1945, the military used the south end of Pass-a-Grille for coastal defense. A 1945 aerial photograph shows a watchtower and support buildings where the resort later grew. A 1988 Frommer's guide called Island's End "the most scenic spot on the Suncoast." Millard Gamble bought it in 1986, when it was being marketed as a teardown, and kept the older cottages' exteriors largely intact.

Of the three buildings, this is the only one where a single private owner makes the call. Melanie Vandegrift, who represented Gamble before the board, said in St. Pete Catalyst that the goal is "to save and return to their former glory the other three buildings" as resort cottages. No repair schedule was announced with the designation.

Some of the neighborhood didn't wait for a ruling

The 2026 calendar is filling in faster than the old buildings. Pass-a-Grille Beach Community Church at 107 16th Ave. has recovered from the flood. Paradise News reported that its thrift shop is "like new" and observed that many other local institutions have not yet recovered. Here is what is on the schedule this season:

1. Saturday, Oct. 17, 4 to 10 p.m. Party Under the Lights, Pass-a-Grille's annual Halloween block party, at 114 8th Ave., with a street closure, vendors, costumes and music.
2. Wednesday, Nov. 11, 9 to 10:15 a.m. Jeanne Salvo resumes her yoga classes at the church. After that, classes meet every Wednesday and Friday morning at the same time.
3. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon. The church thrift shop is open.
4. Every Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Suntan Art Center's Art Mart sets up at 900 Gulf Way, weather permitting, and adds Fridays from January through April.

Several larger public projects on the same streets are still in early stages. As of the city's August 2026 snapshot, the Pass-a-Grille Way seawall replacement, the Gulf Way rehabilitation and the rehabilitation of the fishing piers at 1st and 7th avenues were all in design or procurement. Replacement of Pass-a-Grille's tide check valves was the one item listed as under construction. These projects follow the same pattern as the bait shack: their timelines will be set by procurement and permitting, not by when the storms hit.

The next dates are already fixed. The block party closes 8th Avenue on Oct. 17, and the church yoga room reopens Nov. 11. The museum is aiming for 2029.

If you own property near any of these sites and want to understand how flood rules and historic designation affect repair or renovation plans, The Salamone Group follows these decisions closely in Pass-a-Grille and is glad to share what we're seeing. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.