People who live on Pass-A-Grille want a historic bait shop to reopen. The century-old shop was destroyed in Hurricane Helene."It was kind of a hub, kind of a meeting spot," said Colleen Bouchard.Watch report from Casey Albritton Pass-A-Grille residents say closed historic bait shop is impacting tourismThe Merry Pier bait shop building opened in 1902 as the first shop along the Gulf beaches, but Hurricane Helene devastated the building."It reminds us of everything that has happened to all of us, we all flooded," said Cheryl Engles, who owns Island Life Shop.Now its a spot for pigeons to enjoy a snack, as food and merchandise still cover the floorboards of the shop."I've been coming out here since I was probably 16 years old, and it's always been open, so it's unfortunate that it's closed now," said John Humber, who fishes on the pier.John Humber still fishes off the pier twice a week, but said he misses the bait shop."Frustration, definitely, as a fisherman, you want to make sure you have your necessities nearby, and without this, you cant have that," said Humber.Colleen Bouchard operates a shuttle boat at the pier. She said the closed bait shop is also impacting tourism."If you Google something, it says closed, but it's only the bait shop, and people dont know that, so they dont come here. And when they see it, they say 'oh, its condemned, and there's nothing going on here,'" said Bouchard.Cheryl Engles owns Island Life Shop on Pass-A-Grille and said shes lost foot traffic."There would be one person fishing from the family, and the rest of the family would come down to the beach and go shopping at the different stores," said Engles.Colleen said she had to put up a sign to let people know her business is still open because when they look at the bait shop, they think the whole pier is closed.John Kavanagh leases the bait shop and pier. He said theres a reason its taken so long to be repaired."The city is working vigorously with the regulatory agencies, there's state stuff going on, there's FEMA stuff going on, and all of it has to be navigated before a decision can be made on the bait shop," said Kavanagh.Business owners hope the bait shop is fixed soon."Pass-A-Grille has definitely been open to visitors we are very busy, but we are missing an important part still," said Engles. ...read more read less