After Hurricane Helene, the floodwater in the Carlouel Beach & Yacht Club’s main clubhouse touched higher than three feet, leaving behind a gray film on the waterlogged floor.
The pools were full of debris. Piles of seaweed were everywhere. The boardwalk, bent out of shape, resembled a rollercoaster.
The club’s valet sign was found somewhere in Dunedin, miles away from where the property sits on the north end of Clearwater Beach, next to Caladesi Island State Park.
Its proximity to the water – one of the club’s main draws with its views of the Gulf of Mexico and the bay – also made it more vulnerable to Helene two years ago.
Now, the club wants to ensure that level of damage never happens again. The member-owned yacht club secured a $38 million rebuild to fix damages from Helene and, perhaps most importantly, to make the property more secure against future storms.
“We want something that will be resilient and will be here for the next 90 years,” said Peter Jones, the club’s commodore, a member elected to act as the club’s president.
The Carlouel was not alone in feeling Helene’s destruction. About 80% of the homes and businesses on the ground level of the beach suffered water intrusion. Mounds of sand as high as 6 feet had to be removed from streets in the days after, delaying staff from getting in to assess the damage.
The club, which celebrated its 90th anniversary that year, shuttered its doors for eight weeks as staff worked to mold it back into shape.
“I remember looking around and thinking, ‘How could we ever get this to look the same?’” said Mandy Hopper, the club’s general manager.
The rebuild will involve raising the first level of living space 16 feet above sea level and adding in hurricane-proof glass and doors. But it’s not all business before pleasure: the renovations also include six new cabanas for guests to stay overnight, a wellness center, a masthead bar by the docks, a resort lagoon pool and a dining room with 360-degree views of the water.
It’s one of the largest rebuilds from the back-to-back hurricanes that left Tampa Bay beleaguered in their immediate and long-term aftermath.
“It’s such a unique piece of land. The value of it is so strong, and it deserves a building in a site that meets it where it is on the level of beauty,” Hopper said.
Some of the damage from Helene is still visible. The main clubhouse sits unused by members. The birthdays, weddings and retirement parties that used to be held there were moved outdoors, where staff set up tents and chandeliers as an alternative.
The rebuild will begin this month with the work being done in phases so members can still access the club and its amenities.
Maintaining the look and feel of the building is a priority. Many of the members have been at the club for generations, and there is a sentimental value, Jones said.
Founded in 1934 with around 100 member families, the Carlouel has grown to 465 members. But the club still prides itself on preserving its “old-Florida charm.”
Renderings of the rebuild seem to preserve that look, recreating the club’s white, coastal exteriors but making it grander in scale. Along with the new amenities, the club will also rebuild its docks and seawall so people can access the club by boat.
The Carlouel feels “stuck in time” in the best way possible, said five-year member and Clearwater native Michael Wozney.
He recalls visiting the Carlouel when he was a teenager. Though he was not a member, he came for school events and even junior cotillion.
“It just seemed like such a great place to go,” he said of the club, adding that it felt “far removed from the normal day-to-day life.”
“Kind of like a vacation without going on vacation,” he said.
Years later and after starting his own family, Wozney came back to the Carlouel wanting to give his kids a taste of an “unspoiled” part of Florida.
The rebuild, Wozney said, honors the tradition the club has created while making it more sustainable for the future.
Members of the club will pay for the rebuild through their monthly dues. The cost is a “tall order,” Jones said, but it was important for the members to maintain control. The Carlouel declined to share how much each member is shouldering in payments.
The members considered just fixing the damages from the storm but ultimately voted to go forward with a much larger renovation project, about a year after the storms, Jones said.
It came down to the future generations of the Carlouel. Members wanted to feel as though the club will be around for their children and grandchildren to enjoy, Jones said.
Wozney said the longevity of the Carlouel is “paramount” to future generations.
“This allows that experience for them to hold on and to find their version of Carlouel in the future,” he said.
