Last summer, when the new Publix opened at the intersection of R Jackson Blvd and Back Beach Road, Dunkin Donuts came, along with Tropical Smoothie and a variety of other assorted shops. Office Depot was supposed to be on the roster, but I was told that due to the downturn in the economy, they had indefinitely pulled out of this new location and were actually re-evaluating the operations of many other locations across the U.S. Well, things must have turned around for them because their sign is back up, the inside of the space is close to being finished off and they are scheduled to open within the next four weeks.
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It’s been quite a week or two for Panama City Beach – first a new international airport, and as of Wednesday June 2nd 2010, a brand new state-of-the-art library! At 10,000 square feet, the new facility is larger, offers a much broader range of services, and is conveniently located on Hutchinson Blvd and Lyndell Lane in the center of Panama City Beach. READ MORE
If you’ve been driving on Front Beach Road close to Wal-Mart recently, you will have no doubt noticed a rather large, oddly-shaped structure located next to Walgreen’s and opposite Ripley’s Believe it or not Museum. In case you were wondering, this imposing building is actually going to be an awesome family attraction by the name of WonderWorks, and is scheduled to be open this summer. READ MORE
from www.PanamaCityBeachHarley.com
You’ve driven past the sign probably a thousand times since it was posted; some of you passing with excitement, others with disdain. Either way, Harley Davidson Motor Cycles is coming to Panama City Beach. The acceleration lane headed West from the intersection of Panama City Beach Parkway and Gulf Blvd is almost complete and the crews have one more layer of asphalt to lay. After that, its vroom, vrooom!
Businesses like Harley Davidson moving into our area is always a good thing, a sign of the economic prosperity to be had on our wonderful beaches. However, we at PCBDaily.com have read the comments (see exhibit A) about Bike Week and although we are fans of the event, the chromed-out weekend remains one of PCB’s most polarizing topics. Some love it, some hate. Harley Davidson’s arrival onto our beach can only mean that the bike week has more staying power than many realize.
We expect construction to begin soon on the latest addition to the Harley Davidson family of Dealers.
This construction appears to be the first of the “Commercial Opportunities” that are offered by the St. Joe Company along Panama City Beach Parkway (or Back Beach Road, as some still call it). This and other land parcels are convenient to Frank Brown Park and Pier Park.
As growth continues on Panama City Beach… We’ll keep you posted!
Over the last 18 months, crews have been working quickly to widen the length of Highway 79 from two lanes to four lanes with much of it split with a large grass median. For those of you that travel up 79, you know this has been a heaven send and has made the road much easier to navigate. Last week at a city council meeting they voted to move forward on the extension of the widening south of Back Beach Road, or Panama City Beach Parkway.
One of the big hang-ups all along has been how to execute this with the dynamics of an awkwardly designed Y intersection that put businesses close to the corridor of travel.
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This past Friday, in an event that featured the famous Pineapple Willy’s BBQ and inspiring blues from the acclaimed Johnnie Marshall Band, Panama City Beach officials and library supporters danced the night away as they raised money to help furnish the son-to-open new public library. A plate-style fundraiser in the form of a BBQ buffet, dozen showed and purchased a plate and enjoyed the live music, all-in-all totaling $3500.
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The answer to the aforementioned question is no, Pier Park is not killing Thomas drive, at least not in a definitive way like maybe how Rock-n-Roll killed Disco. But if you take a drive down Thomas drive and absorb the lack of traffic and innumerable “for lease” signs dressing business windows, you’ll know instantly that, although Pier Park isn’t killing the area, its influence is eye-opening.
It should be noted that the overall effect is difficult to quantify because Thomas Drive is a street, not a destination like Pier Park, so the draw is somewhat unrelated. Thomas Drive also has two identities sundered just past Grand Lagoon Bridge at the perpendicular intersection where Thomas goes East/West. At that point, a business driven, Navy Base inspired four-lane highway transforms into a quiet, scenic gulf front strip; two completely different socioeconomic streets. Pier Park’s continuing popularity has affected them differently.
Since Pier Park’s unveiling, North Thomas Drive, running from bridge to bridge, has seen a surge in development. Restaurants like Hooter’s, Sake House II and, locally acclaimed, Donut Island have been opened and flourished off Navy Base business. After speaking briefly with Debbie Johnson, one of the Donut Island’s owners, she said with confidence, “We’re doing great and growing.” Further down, staple restaurants like Captain Anderson’s and Treasure Ship have done well and so has the general area, evidenced by the opening of a small business like Sweet Racks and the groundbreaking of a franchise like Jasmine Thai restaurant. North Thomas has seen developments all over the place since Pier Park opened.
The other Thomas Drive has seen exactly the opposite; no new developments and lots, LOTS, of businesses closing down. The question remains, is Pier Park the culprit?
Kat Meeks, owner of Liza’s Kitchen, one of the businesses on that picturesque strip of Thomas Drive that has been able to thrive, quite well in fact, despite Pier Park’s success, had an interesting take on the matter. “I don’t think Pier Park is killing Thomas Drive as much as it’s just changing it. Yes, more people are staying on the west end, but that’s okay. Thomas Drive, I think, is just becoming the local’s end of the beach.”
Her take was that Pier Park’s greatest effect on Thomas Drive is accelerating its natural evolution, one that will weed out businesses that don’t fit the mold. “Panama City Beach has its own subculture, y’know?” She said. “While locals go to Pier Park as the one-stop-shop, here on Thomas Drive you have condo owners, families and locals that support businesses. Locals need some place to go too and Thomas Drive is becoming that place. It’s the local’s place and is locally driven.”
And a local haven may very well be Thomas Drive’s inevitable progressive destination. When locals, repeat tourists, eco-tourists and snowbirds want to get away from the generic areas, there is but one place for them to land and that’s Thomas Drive. One possible key to making this work is for businesses to embrace that role; to fashion themselves to cater to the locals, some tourists and flourish during the off-season. The question is how to do that.
“We’ve been able to do more creative things and think outside the box.” Kat Meeks answered when asked how other businesses can compete. “You can’t just wait for people to come to your door. We have a lot of locals in this area that are looking for some place to go. We do everything we can to make sure they know we’re here.”
Strangely, what may affect Thomas Drive more than Pier Park could be the Grand Lagoon Bridge construction. “I’m nervous about it.” Kat said. “It has two sides. Once it’d done its going to be great, but the construction phase will be tough.”
It remains to be seen how quickly Thomas Drive will get over the Pier Park effect. One thing is for sure, it will be up to the locals and businesses to reaquaint themselves if Thomas Drive is ever to return to it’s beloved status.
The buzz is growing as we get closer to the grand opening of Shubee Flowrider – Panama City Beach’s newest attraction! For those of you who don’t know, Shubee Flowrider is an indoor, man-made surfable wave – and it’s set to become one of Panama City Beach’s most exciting additions! There are more than 50 Flowriders across the globe, located mainly in water parks and resorts, and a popular feature on Royal Caribbean cruise ships. The Flowrider uses an array of high-output water pumps to produce a stationary sheet of water that flows over a fixed, foam-padded surface. It’s a safe, fun way for both experienced surfers and novices to feel the thrill of riding a wave without even dipping a toe in the ocean.
The project is coming along beautifully and hopefully it won’t be too much longer before the doors open and the water starts flowing. The project actually started off a little slower than expected, but it’s moving along at a much faster pace now. The exterior walls are up, and the roof is on. Shubee Flowrider is located on the Miracle Strip at Hutchinson Blvd and Front Beach Road – check it out next time you drive by! Christina Hammer from Shubee Flowrider explains: “The reason we decided to put a Flowrider here in Panama City Beach is because there isn’t much for locals to do that’s exciting, fun, and different, especially for the kids. We will pride ourselves on being a safe and fun place where the local kids will love to hang out.”
Judging from Flowrider’s massive popularity in other areas, this attraction will prove to be a very welcome addition to our community. Every Flowrider participates in a flowboarding contest circuit, and Shubee in Panama City Beach will be no exception. The contest allows competitive flowboarders the opportunity to travel and compete with other flowboarders in different areas. Classes will be available at the location for those interested in learning more about this thrilling sport. Another exciting aspect of the attraction is its potential for hosting special events. Christina Hammer predicts this will play a huge role – thanks in part to two full size party rooms and a variety of packages to choose from. There’s also going to be an exciting retail section, where visitors will be able to shop for the hottest west coast brands that are harder to find here in Florida. Brands like RVCA, MATIX, JEDIDIAH, REEF, RIPCURL, FOX, and many more will be available, making Shubee Flowrider’s selection a little different than some of the beach’s existing surf outlets.
For those interested in working for Shubee, there will be a job fair on August 5th from 8:00am to 5:00pm, and August 6th from 3:00pm to 9:00pm. Anyone who is interested in a job can come during those times and fill out an application.
Check out the official website and watch this space for updates!
There are times when a very little story can suddenly become big news. Case in point, the newly opened Krystal Burger on Hutchison Blvd: where so many cars and people gravitated you’d think they were giving away burgers for free or someone glimpsed the Virgin Mary in a chilli cheese pup.
While you may not be a fan of the tiny, tasty burgers, it has become apparent that a lot of people are. In my lifetime, I’ve never witnessed the type of spectacle I saw at Krystals. First of all, it was nearly impossible to get into the parking lot as traffic on Hutchison trying to turn in was backed up severely. Once I got into the place, I noticed one uniformed police officer managing traffic and I thought, “at the height of the tourist season you’re managing drive thru traffic at Krystal burger?” It was then that I realized he was not the only badge-wearing fellow on drive-thru detail; there were in fact four, yes four, fully-armed police officers monitoring traffic at Krystals. Stunned, was I.
After I passed the first officer, I saw that the drive-thru itself was very strange, split in two by orange cones, a route reminiscent of a line at the Disney World Magic Mountain, as it wrapped around the building twice, whipping 360 degrees just to get to that all important intercom order stop. The process proved surprisingly quick and I made the first turn, then the second, the third and reached the intercom feeling a bit like a nascar racer. I was greeted by a woman at the intercom. I told the lady I wanted 4 of those savory burgers. Her voice, delightful in a rather raucous scene, told me my total and said, “it’ll be my pleasure to serve you at the first window.” When I drove up to that first window and it slid opened, half a dozen workers in light blue shirts, still obviously new to the system, tried hurriedly to get my order out. The whole process took about twenty-minutes–twenty minutes worth of armed guards, high-traffic and an amusement park drive-thru all for a soft, flavorful bite of a burger many have ached to finally get their hands on. And as you are reading this, you are probably asking yourself, “was it at least worth it?”
The answer is a simple, contented, muffled-by-a-mouth-full-of-burger, “definitely.”
You may remember an article I wrote about Lord’s Gym a few months ago detailing how positive and awesome their facilities and programs were for Panama City Beach. Well this Saturday, July 25th, they’ll be adding another feature that will raise the level of awesomeness to a whole new place.
The Lord’s Gym Dive Center, located at 1616 Allison Avenue, will have a grand opening complete with free air fills for all you divers, hot dogs and a bounce house for kids and even drawings for Scuba Pro giveaways. Lord’s Gym Dive Center is full service, providing all the dive equipment you could want as well as classes ranging from Discover Scuba to Advanced Open Water.
As with the very positive theme at Lord’s, every month a percentage of the Lord’s Gym Dive Center’s proceeds will go to a different charity. So if you are a pro diver or a novice, you’ll want to check out the grand opening or stop by the store for all your diving needs. If you’ve never taken a dive in your life, there’s something at Lord’s Gym Dive Center for you too. On August 8th, the Discover Scuba Diving course, a diving lesson for newbie’s in a pool, will be free to the public. All you have to do is sign up and get a full diving experience; try on diving gear, breath underwater and swim. This course is worth $35.00, but on the 8th it will be totally free. That’s right, another FREE service held by Lord’s Gym.
To sign up for the Discover Scuba Diving, just call 850-249-2001 or email Misty at lgdc@knology.net.
The Grand Opening Event for Lord’s Gym Dive Center will be on Saturday July 25th and will go from 8:00 AM – 7:00PM.
