City to unveil upgraded Gulfview

FORT WALTON BEACH — The grand opening ceremony for the upgraded, city-owned Gulfview Hotel building is set for 5:30-8 p.m. May 9.

The event will include remarks from local officials, live music and self-guided tours of the building.

The main use of the structure will be to house a visitors’ center operated by the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department.

Pending final approval, a William Augustus Bowles Pirate Museum and a Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce gift shop will join the center on the building’s first floor. The second floor contains nine leased offices.

The building was built in 1906 and is the city’s oldest structure.

Last April, the donated, two-story building was moved a quarter-mile east from its original site at 12 Miracle Strip Parkway S.E to 115 Miracle Strip Parkway S.E. next to Harris Insurance Services.

City-led renovations to the historic hotel building began last August. The cost of the building relocation and upgrades totals about $665,000.

“To be able to preserve a piece of our history and put it to good use in the heart of our city is really something special,” Fort Walton Beach Mayor Dick Rynearson said in a statement. “I think everyone will be proud of how this project turned out.”