By Ed Offley
Panama City Beach residents and visitors alike will enjoy an expansion of opportunities for dining, entertainment and sports in the year ahead.
Three new projects are on track to finish construction and open their doors to the public in the first half of 2025. They include the 60,000-square-foot Pirates Voyage indoor theater on Panama City Beach Parkway west of Pier Park; the 38,000-square-foot TopGolf driving range and entertainment center on Powell Adams Drive, and a new McGuire’s Irish Pub at 17290 Front Beach Road on the former site of the Boar’s Head Restaurant.
And to the relief of all motorists, construction of Segment 3 of the Community Redevelopment Agency’s massive street reconstruction project – SR 79 from the US 98 parkway to Front Beach Road, and east to Lullwater Drive – will be completed by mid-year
Under construction since last summer, the $60 million Pirates Voyage dinner theater is now in its final phase of construction and on schedule for a late spring opening. Workers in August completed “topping off” the external structure that holds 1,000 seats. Construction is now centered on the 15-foot-deep interior lagoon that will hold more than 600,000 gallons of water for the centerpiece of the set that will house two pirate vessels – Crimson and Sapphire – and the pirate crews who will battle on deck, in the water and in the air.
Jack Lawrence, Pirates Voyage CEO, said that in addition to the 400 construction jobs, the dinner theater will employ 300 people when it opens. “This is going to be a show that guests to Panama City Beach are not going to want to miss,” Lawrence said. Two other Pirates Voyage facilities are in operation in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
The city’s attraction for golfers will also significantly grow in the summer of 2025 with the scheduled opening of the $26 million TopGolf venue on Powell Adams Drive.
The two-story facility will feature 74 climate-controlled hitting bays with lounge-type furniture and high-top tables for groups to cheer on (or heckle) fellow players. It will also feature the company’s “Toptracer” technology, which traces each golf ball’s flight path, distance and other metrics.
In addition, the site will include a full-service restaurant, a 22-foot video wall, and an outdoor patio suitable for team gatherings and family events.
TopGolf’s tenth Florida facility will employ 275-300 people when open, company officials say.
McGuire’s Irish Pub – whose existing venues in Pensacola and Destin regularly attract PCB residents and visitors on day trip visits – will open its third restaurant on Front Beach Road during the first two weeks of February, company officials say.
The 24,000-square-foot restaurant has been under construction since last March. When open, it will be able to seat up to 650 people at one time, following the same design as its counterparts. In addition to its Irish themed menu, the restaurant will feature live entertainment.
“We’re doing a lot of wood inside, hardwood floors, beadboard on the walls, a lot of lighting,” Project Manager Daniel Rivera told WJHG recently.
The completion of the street improvements along the SR 79 corridor and Front Beach Road will mark a major milestone in the 24-year-old city infrastructure improvements, said Donna Montgomery, community outreach specialist with The Corradino Group, which is managing the multi-million-dollar project. One recent development has been the landscaping around the roundabout at Front Beach Road and Arnold Road.
As in other phases of the CRA work, the project includes widening the roadway to four lanes, adding sidewalks and crosswalks, installing curb and gutter storm drainage, and relocating utility lines.
This phase of the Front Beach Road reconstruction has a mid-2025 completion target, Montgomery said. However, additional phases of the CRA road work are still planned during the next five years.
Construction of two additional Front Beach Road projects is scheduled to begin with bid openings in early 2025 with work to begin shortly afterward. Segment 4.1 runs from Lullwater Drive to east of Hills Road; and Segment 4.2 from the end of Segment 4.1 to Lantana Drive. The next phase, Segment 4.3, is set for early 2026. It will improve Front Beach Road from its intersection with Hutchison Boulevard to west of Richard Jackson Boulevard.
