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Seahorse Restaurant to reopen in Pass-a-Grille
Nearly a year and a half after Hurricanes Helene and Milton decimated parts of the Tampa Bay area, some favorites are still rebuilding and reopening. FOX 13's Kailey Tracy reports.
ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. - As crews finished welding together the final pieces of the kitchen, the Seahorse Restaurant’s owner, Anayeri Gomez, reflected on what the last year and a half has been like.
"I will not say that it has been easy, and I am not just speaking for myself," she said. "I think the whole community is seeing changes and saying goodbye to a lot of the history of Pass-a-Grille and a lot of houses being demolished and new things coming in."
What we know:
Six to seven feet of water during Hurricane Helene pummeled the restaurant, homes and businesses.
"After we opened the doors and saw the whole damage, I think it was devastating seeing that everything was gone, you know? It was gone. All of our memories," Gomez said.
Gomez applied for a historical designation for the restaurant to be able to restore the building that’s been around since 1938. Without the designation, they’d have to demo or lift the building.
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It has been a staple in the community for decades, and was a popular spot for soldiers during World War II.
Dig deeper:
"We have our sweat, tears and work in every plan because we did it by hand," Gomez said.
They were also able to save those iconic booths with vintage pictures and newspaper clippings from the area on the tables.
"After the storm, we had to collect them from different places. They were scattered everywhere. I had people calling me like, ‘one of your booths is all the way on 11th Avenue,’" she said.
Gomez said they regularly maintained them, so they were easy to save.
"We were able to save them and just kind of refinish them again," she said.
Community Changes:
She says since there has been a lot of change in this little beach town since the storms, they tried to build back the Seahorse that people remember as best they could.
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"I think it has become a tradition, a place where you need to visit when you come to the area of Pinellas County. I have met generations, at least three generations of a family that have come, three or four generations, and they keep coming, and I think it's more than a place to visit," Gomez said.
"I think it's just a place where locals get to know each other, people have designated like, ‘ok, this is my table. This is my booth.’ They make it so personal and making sure that, I guess us as a part of the business, we make sure that either tourists or locals feel welcome, and it's just part of a tradition more than anything else in the community," she said.
What's next:
Gomez says they hope to reopen next week.
"It just feels like we just accomplished something great. Even just to be back open in business, it just felt like, ‘wow, we did it.’ I mean, it took a while, but we did. It's just seeing all the work and the team and the community support, too. The community has been very supportive when it comes to trying to help us with anything that they can. And I think that we really appreciate that, and I think it's just everybody's work and just making sure that it's basically a team effort to put it back," Gomez said.
The Source: This article was written with information provided by the owner of the Seahorse Restaurant in Pass-a-Grille.