In a matter of hours August 13th, 2004 Hurricane Charley demolished historic downtown Punta Gorda. Brick shops collapsed. Glass office buildings were blown out. Thousands of mobile homes destroyed. WUSF’s Bobbie O’Brien arrived in Punta Gorda about 12 hours after the hurricane to report on its impact – and she went back a decade later to find a revitalized town.Ten years ago Wally Satar used a tow truck to pull apart twisted steel, engine blocks and welding tanks to salvage tools from his brother’s Mystic Gas Station. The only thing left standing – one wall – and a white car perched atop the hydrolic lift.
"That’s the only thing staying up", said Satar. "Everything else is gone. This building was built about 40 years ago, a steel building, a very strong building. And look at it now, there’s nothing left. Everything is gone."
The gas station was never rebuilt. Now on that spot is the Four Points by Sheraton hotel. There’s construction inside one of the few remaining historic brick buildings on Marion Avenue.
"The business has been closed about 6 years but its going to reopen in October", said Chris Evans.
Evans is rebuilding the Turtle Club.
"It’s basically American seafood", said Evans. "We’re going to do outdoor dining we also have a claw bar, craft beer on tap, live entertainment."
His childhood friend, Mark Figueredo says the restaurant is symbolic of the community’s spirit.
"It’s not just this restaurant but like a second renaissance in downtown Punta Gorda", Figueredo said.
The first renaissance started after Charley’s 150 mph winds flattened much of the downtown.
"Interesting thing with that is you had hurricane Charley lots of homes got rebuilt but then you had hurricane economy that came and we had a massive downfall and it’s almost like we can do that again", said Figueredo. "And it’s really exciting to see that."
Part of that excitement comes because of Team Punta Gorda - of the non-profit community group that formed after Charley. Figueredo and his friend Evans both got involved with the Team Punta Gorda.
"It was the first time a community led grassroots organization came together and decided this is who we are, this is our vision", Evans said. "First emergence of community activism that drove a lot and gained a significant amount of political capital and power when it comes to city council and the CRA.:
Just down the street at the Opus Restaurant – the former CEO of Team Punta Gorda Nancy Prafke dines on her favorite – blackened fish tacos.
"A lot of the people who got involved where people who transplanted here and there was a lot some skepticism but the citizens while they had suffered damage came together and said we can make our community better we know we can do this and the government was so embroiled in basic services and cleaning up", Prafke said.
So, the community came together, formed a non-profit organization, raised more than $250,000 in about 8 weeks and hired a city planner
"And we hired a reknowned urban planner from the university of Miami Jaime Correa who has done a lot of work in florida", said Prafke. "He himself didn’t want to come because he had gone through hurricane Andrew. Residents drove over and made a special appeal and he came and saw and said I have to do it. He brought his whole team over and they led a week long of public meetings called charrets."
She says it took a couple of years to see visible signs of progress but five years after Charley there were no outward signs of the disaster.
"That’s the lesson that FEMA learned was getting the community involved will speed up the pace of the recovery dramatically", said Prafke. "It did here.
And Team Punta Gorda did not stop with the master plan. It has helped with projects like the walkway along Charlotte Harbor and a free bicycle lending program. Prafke - who resigned her volunteer CEO position to run for City Council – says Team Punta Gorda’s mission is to make it A better place to live, work and play.