MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — After more than four months, the area’s largest American Legion post is officially reopening for the first time since Hurricane Helene.

American Legion Post 273 sits just east of the 150th Avenue drawbridge that leads to Madeira Beach.

When the hurricane hit, it pushed more than 3 feet of water into the building wiping out the patio, kitchen, stage, bathrooms and large community area.

What You Need To Know

  • American Legion Post 273 formally reopens Thursday 

  • Work was completed by servers, cooks and bartenders

  • Post had to be completely gutted following Hurricane Helene 

The post has just over 11,400 members and, along with their families, makes up the largest American Legion in the state.

Post Commander Anthony Torregrossa says they had no choice but to shut down and get to work rebuilding, which left a hole in the community.

“The most difficult part for them is this is home and they haven’t been able to come home,” he said.

Torregrossa said as soon as the water receded, his employees and a team of volunteers showed up to the post and started pulling everything out. They quickly came up with a plan and began the long process of completely renovating the waterfront property. The post dipped into their emergency funds so they could continue to pay their staff, and with the help of a duo of contractors, the post’s servers, bartenders and cooks did the renovations by hand.

Volunteers worked to pool money together and make and deliver meals for the staff that were working long hours to complete the construction.

The total cost, including an entirely new kitchen, was between $500,000 and $600,000.

During a “thank you” party Wednesday for the post’s members who stepped up to volunteer, Diane O’Shaughnessy and Tori Tavel were smiling ear to ear while sitting in their spot by the bar. They had been looking forward to seeing familiar faces and old friends once again.

“It’s kind of overwhelming for us to be honest with you,” O’Shaughnessy said. “This is a special place. We don’t even know each other’s names, half of us, but we know faces and we know the times spent together.”

Torregrossa says the post has a long history of raising funds for the community and he’s looking forward to getting back to what they do best. He says their full-time service officer is back on site once again to help veterans with their benefits, claims and appeals.

He says he can’t wait to see everyone back together once again.

“We had this dream and all of a sudden we’re here… and I’m just very happy our people want to come back and will come back,” Torregrossa said.

A ribbon cutting reopening ceremony is set for 10 a.m. on Thursday.