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Annie’s Bait and Tackle to be demolished due to hurricane damage: ‘A piece of old Florida is lost’

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Published  March 10, 2025 8:34am EDT
Manatee County
FOX 13 News

Manatee County bait and tackle shop closing

Manatee County commissioners say Annie’s Bait and Tackle shop, which has been around since the 1950s, is closed until further notice after being damaged in last year’s storms but add that there is a chance it will come back. FOX 13’s Jennifer Kveglis reports.

The Brief

    • Manatee County commissioners voted to demolish Annie’s Bait and Tackle due to damage it suffered during last year’s hurricanes.
    • The 70-year-old bait and tackle shop in Cortez Village will be replaced with a new two-story shop and marina.
    • Manatee County recently acquired the property Annie’s Bait and Tackle sits on.

CORTEZ, Fla. - Manatee County Commissioners voted in favor of demolishing a 70-year-old bait and tackle shop in Cortez Village to make way for a new two-story shop and marina.

Yet, Bruce Shearer, owner of Annie's Bait and Tackle, believed the building could be salvaged. 

Manatee County recently acquired the property Annie sits on. 

Shearer was awaiting a lease before last year’s hurricanes hit. 

Bruce Shearer, owner of Annie's Bait and Tackle, was awaiting a lease before last year's hurricanes hit. 

"We were like the Cheers restaurant. Everybody knew each other," he explained. "You could come from the UK and walk in this door and know five people from the last time you were here." 

But Hurricane Helene flooded the structure and Hurricane Milton blew out its windows. 

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Shearer got his hands on the county's substantial damage estimator document that deemed the structure 45.8% damaged or "not substantially damaged". 

Still, in a Manatee County commission meeting last week, commissioners voted 6 to 1 in favor of demolishing it. 

Bruce Shearer said the bait and tackle shop was like Cheers because everybody knew everybody. 

"It's just a shame we're losing this place. Not for me, but for the community," he said. "A piece of old Florida is lost."

District 4 Commissioner Tal Siddique said, "I think it's clear the facts show that the building can't be salvaged. That includes the docks, that includes likely intrusion from the single-wall tank in there as well."

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Commissioners discussed the possibility of bringing in trailers as a temporary fix while construction for a new structure and marina was underway. 

"We can make sure that what we build there makes sense for Cortez that's not like a gaudy, modern building. But that it looks like it belongs there," Commissioner Siddique said.

District 6 Commissioner Jason Bearden was the sole commissioner who voted against the demolition. 

Hurricane Helene flooded the bait and tackle story and Hurricane Milton blew out its windows. 

"We're going to shove out the little man to put in the big man to put in the big private industry," Bearden shared. 

Commissioners discussed incorporating Annie's into the new plans. But Shearer isn’t sure he wants to be a part of it because he believes the new structure wouldn’t be built for a few years. 

Shearer said, "I wish we could have done something to save it but it's just memories now."

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The Source: This story was written with information gathered by FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis. 

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