Hurricane Ian: One Year Later

2023 • HURRICANE IAN: ONE YEAR LATER • 23 including Dollar Tree and Pet Supermarket, might never reopen, but Midori Sushi & Hibachi was spared. Port Charlotte's 45-year-old Olympia Restaurant looks sound from the street but suffered major damage after the rear half of its roof caved in. According to owner Peter Patel, the entire building must be rewired and equipment replaced before it can reopen. "It's a waiting game right now," he said. "After Hurricane Charley it took a year and a half to reopen." Another Englewood icon, the quarter- century-old neighborhood dive bar with the leering bucktoothed mascot, won't be coming back, either. Raise a cold one, one last time, to Beaver's Sports Bar & Grill at 4299 South Access Road. COMING BACK After the storm, Englewood's Beach Road Wine Bar & Bistro, its new boutique, and its Beach Road Watersports seawall were a total loss, all requiring months if not years to rebuild. The storm had also devastated the second floor of owners Scott and Jill Hemmes' beachfront Waverly, and they had to direct their efforts toward its repairs first. Meanwhile, an old food trailer — the very same that had put out the Bistro's gourmet meals for more than a decade — ended up saving the day for its sister restaurant. By November, the trailer was serving at The Waverly's ground-level Waves bar, and the upstairs banquet room recently reopened for events. Englewood's two oldest Italian restaurants — Mama's Italian Restaurant and Nicola's Italian Kitchen, which won Best Italian Restaurant in Best of Englewood 2023 — are being remodeled and hope to reopen for the 2023-24 season. After the water receded from Lake Suzy's Nav-A-Gator Bar & Grill, owners Shauna and Jesse Shows and their staff spent two days gutting the block building from the waterline down. They expect to reopen this fall. Arcadia's Magnolia Street Seafood & Grill lost its leased location on the first floor of the old DeSoto Hotel on Magnolia Street. Notorious for years of unrepaired roof leaks, which sometimes closed all but four of 16 dining room tables, the historic building was deemed unsafe after the storm. This spring, owner Carl Tindall announced he'd found a new location, now under construction in the former Café Italiano inside the pink Rosin Arcade on the corner of Oak and Polk. Construction delays, he said, could hold up his reopening until as late as January. Charlotte Harbor's ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, across from Publix, was damaged and demolished, and is being rebuilt on its original site as a massive all-new store. Its temporary location is in the Baer's Furniture plaza on U.S. 41 beside Charlotte Harbor Bingo. MUSICAL OFFICES Even insurance companies have to play musical locations to continue serving customers while their headquarters are crippled by damage. For example, Chapman Insurance Group's main Port Charlotte office on Tamiami Trail, as well as its W. Marion Avenue office in Punta Gorda, remain closed while staff makes in-person appointments by telephone. Real estate offices have been especially light on their feet. Keller Williams in Englewood is working out of a Venice facility until it finds a new office. Coldwell Banker Sunstar at the corner of Beach Road and S.R. 776 is seeking a new office while sharing the brokerage's space at Gulf Cove Publix. Century 21 Sunbelt lost its office in Port Charlotte and moved to 2670 S. McCall Road in Englewood. South Gulf Cove Realty is working from home offices and won't return to the Wiltshire Drive building it shared with The Morning Muse, also closed. Barberstry staff now trim customers in Englewood's 2 K's Salon and Spa, at 168 W. Dearborn Street. Palm Island Resort lost its office space and now works out of Leverock's. 941-280-4180 2147 Porter Lake Dr., Unit E, Sarasota www.TadlockRoofing.com NO MONEY DOWN! Offer expires on October 1, 2023. Must present offer at point of sale. Not valid with any other offer or discount. One offer per customer. Not valid on previous sales. Not valid with special financing promotion. Contract Tadlock representative for future details. OFFER CODE: Charlotte Sun $500 OFF ReRoof ($10,000 or More) TADLOCK ROOFING FINANCING AVAILABLE ASK ABOUT OUR LIFETIME WORKMANSHIP WARRANTY The Most Trusted and Most Affordable Weathering The Storm SINCE 1980 Tadlock Roofing is happy to be part of our community rebuild efforts following Hurricane Ian adno=3903149-1 SUN FILE PHOTO BY ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH A-1 Collision & Glass, an auto repair business serving Englewood for 32 years, is unrecognizable after Hurricane Ian. Owner Corey Steinfath works to clear debris. SUN PHOTO BY SUE WADE Hurricane Charley's entrance, now locked shut, stands beside the storm-ravaged next-door PG Waterfront Hotel.

• Cover