Our Journey Back to Paradise – Update 3

Our Journey Back to Paradise

We are excited to report that we are making great strides at Blind Pass. The basic services are coming online one at a time. Water is on, electricity is close to being connected and the sewage system will be completed next. Many of our favorite restaurants have reopened, including Traders, Island Pizza, Il Cielo and Sanibel Deli. The beaches are also reopening as the clean-up of each beach is completed. And the public is allowed on the island to visit and support the businesses that have reopened.

The crews have been working seven days a week to clean up the landscaping and have completely removed all the debris. Many of the trees along the path going to the bridge had to be removed from the property as they had been pushed over by the high winds. And all the sod had to be removed as the salt water had destroyed it down to the roots. Most of the palms and other bigger plants are growing back nicely and we will be replanting all the landscaping needed to make Blind Pass more beautiful than ever. Some plants and trees are even blooming again!
The first-floor units have been stripped down to the studs and the second-floor units are being repaired as needed – more on that below. Air conditioning units have to be replaced in every unit and that process is well underway.
We have received so much support from all of you and will continue to send you updates as the progress continues.
With gratitude ~ The Blind Pass Board of Directors

Happy New Year!

As we say goodbye to 2022, we want to say Happy New Year to all of our friends, families and guests from the Blind Pass family! We wish you a happy, healthy and wonderful 2023. We are committed to moving forward with the goal of re-opening Blind Pass to our guests once again. It’s a huge task but the support has been amazing. We appreciate all the encouragement, kind notes and messages that our guests send. We can’t wait to open our doors to you once again! We’ll continue to share our progress along the way so check out our Facebook and Instagram pages too.

Blind Pass Pool Update

Remember what our pool looked like after Ian? Our pool has now been cleaned — look at that color! The mud was removed and scraped off and the deck has been pressure washed too. The next step is replacing the damaged pool equipment! We know so many of you have enjoyed our beautiful pool over the years with your families. We can’t wait to see you all swimming, playing and relaxing here again. We have more photos on our Facebook page – click here to see!

1st Floor Update

Every 1st floor condo has been cleaned out and demoed down to the studs. This is a huge project and we’re so grateful for the contractor crew that has been working on this. The ongoing progress has been encouraging to see as these units have gone from being filled with water and debris to a clean slate for the rebuild. We’ll keep you posted on developments as we work together to re-open!

2nd Floor Update

While some of the upper units at Blind Pass were unaffected by Hurricane Ian, others did experience damage from the storm. Some windows were blown out, a few of the units had roofs partially blown off or damaged, and water got into some of the units. Any roof damage will be repaired as part of our rebuilding process. Read more.

Thank you to the Bauers!

Our owners at Blind Pass Condos are the best! The Bauers stopped by and delivered donuts and cookies to the crew working, offering treats to everyone on-site that day. Blind Pass owners are a wonderful group of people that have banded together to get through the rebuilding process, showing gratitude along the way. We love to see this, thank you so much Jim and Lynn!

 

Lunches for the working crew continue

We have a huge crew of people working at Blind Pass Condos. They are helping to bring Blind Pass back so we can re-open and welcome owners and guests again. This devoted team has been working tirelessly since day one. Our wonderful community of owners and guests have donated to a workers lunch fundraiser — this has been a great way to say Thank You from afar. So far, we’ve hosted 7 lunches and have recently been able to order from Sanibel Deli. We’re happy to help support local businesses on island as they reopen! Read more about our lunch fundraiser here. Read more about our lunch fundraiser here.

 

OUR JOURNEY BACK TO PARADISE CONTINUES…

We are committed to sharing our story as we continue on this journey. Our guests, friends and Blind Pass families are a source of inspiration to all of us. Thank you for the support, the kind messages, the sweet stories and uplifting notes. We appreciate all of you and look forward to keeping you informed. Make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter, we’ll continue to share our updates and progress along the way. Thank you!

Sign up for the Blind Pass Newsletter here!

Our Journey Back to Paradise – Update 2

Our Journey Back to Paradise

Welcome to our second update on the progress at Blind Pass Condominiums.

We are thrilled to report that things are moving along on Sanibel. Many areas have water, electric and waste water service. A few restaurants have reopened in the last couple of weeks. And a lucky few residents have even been able to move back into their homes. That said, most homes, hotels and other vacation properties have much work ahead!

We’re making progress at Blind Pass, too. Our staff, board and contractors are working with the City of Sanibel to be sure everything is in place to get these services up and running for the entire complex. In the meantime, the crews have continued to move things along at Blind Pass. Piles of debris have been removed by the city. The condos have been mostly cleared of debris and the workers are in the process of removing the walls for the first floor units and stripping them back to the studs. This will allow them to begin replacing the walls!

See below for news on the Clubhouse — it’s going to come back better than ever! And our terrific staff is working hard to make things happen, from our manager Tom’s help with contractors and overseeing work on site to Tayla and Taylor refunding deposits and doing so may other things: taking photos for owners, helping keep things organized and even finding our Big Blue Chair! It’s a great team and we’re so appreciative of all they are doing to help Blind Pass recover!

While the recovery process has many steps, we are grateful for each new major step that we take at Blind Pass and on the island as well! We can’t wait to share more in our next update — and we continue to look forward to the day we’ll be welcoming you back to Blind Pass again. We hope your Thanksgiving was terrific. At Blind Pass, while we have faced many challenges, we also have much to be thankful for!

With gratitude ~ The Blind Pass Board of Directors and Staff

Progress in the Clubhouse

So many of you have stopped by our clubhouse over the years, to say hi, to sign out a kayak or to get a puzzle or book… The Clubhouse has been cleaned out and the walls have been removed down to the studs. As we continue to work on this space, we’ll keep you updated. We are looking forward to having you stop by when we re-open! Plus we’ll have a fresh selection of books, puzzles and games to borrow while you stay. Here’s a picture of Tom, standing where his desk used to be!

 

Refund Update

Our refund process is still moving right along – the office staff has been diligently working on this project. At this point, we are issuing refunds on deposits through March 2023. Rest assured that cancellation fees are being waived. Although we do not have an estimated date for re-opening, our Blind Pass Team is already hard at work to make our beautiful island home better than ever as we rebuild. Read more about our refund updates here.

 

Our Big Blue Chair!

If you visited Blind Pass Condos in the summer or fall this year, you must have seen our new Big Blue Chair! The manager, Tom, built and painted this just for Blind Pass. So many of our guests have had fun taking photos on our Big Blue Chair. We were beyond excited to see that it survived Ian. The chair will be back in place when we reopen so you and your family can get a photo with the chair that survived Ian!

Some New Re-Openings

Jerry’s celebrated its reopening with a ribbon cutting in October! And in true spirit of helping one another on Sanibel Island, both Jerry’s AND Bailey’s (along with their stores’ shared supplier) made a donation to F.I.S.H. for $20,000. Some other restaurants are also open now: Cielo, Captiva Pizza and Traders. Read more.

 

Thank You to the Crew

We have a huge crew of people working at Blind Pass Condos. They have helped to tarp roofs, secure windows, clean up, clear walkways and repair the clubhouse. This devoted team has been working tirelessly since day one. Our wonderful community of owners and guests have donated to a workers lunch fundraiser – this has been a great way to say Thank You from afar. Read more about our fundraiser here.

Photos Around Blind Pass

OUR JOURNEY BACK TO PARADISE CONTINUES…

We are committed to sharing our story as we continue on this journey. Our guests, friends and Blind Pass families are a source of inspiration to all of us. Thank you for the support, the kind messages, the sweet stories and uplifting notes. We appreciate all of you and look forward to keeping you informed. Make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter, we’ll continue to share our updates and progress along the way. Thank you!

Sign up for the Blind Pass Newsletter here!

 

Our Journey Back to Paradise – Update 1

Sign up for the Blind Pass Newsletter here!

Our Journey Back to Paradise

One of our tiki-signs still stands!

We so appreciate the outpouring of thoughts and well wishes we’ve been receiving from you – our past guests, friends and families who have been staying at Blind Pass for generations, visitors who’ve just gotten to know us and even people who haven’t yet stayed with us at Blind Pass. As you know, Hurricane Ian has caused catastrophic damage to Sanibel Island and Blind Pass Condos. You’ve seen the images on TV and online and have likely heard stories from friends who live in the area.

We are all devastated by the impact this storm has had on our island home. But Blind Pass is already hard at work on our path to rebuilding.

We’ve created this new newsletter to provide you with regular updates on our progress and journey along the way as we work to bring back the little slice of paradise that we all love so much.

We’ve received so many messages asking about how our staff are doing and wanted to share the good news that all of our staff and owners at Blind Pass Condos are safe and accounted for. Our staff have seen some of these personal messages and are touched by your heartfelt concern. As you know, Blind Pass Condo guests are family to us. We see the same families over and over again each year. We know that staying at Blind Pass Condos is a tradition and our staff is an important part of that. Our entire staff team is still on board at Blind Pass to help us with a variety of needs along the path to rebuilding.

We continue to be grateful that our staff and our Blind Pass owners are safe. And we thank you for the outpouring of kind thoughts that you’ve shared. Your continued support and messages of concern have truly been a silver lining.

Watch this space for photos as we rebuild, stories from our journey and news on timing for re-opening once we get close to that wonderful date! The Blind Pass community is dedicated to rebuilding our island home so that it brings us all the same joy, inspiration and connection to family and friends that mean so much to all of us.

With gratitude ~ The Blind Pass Board of Directors

We’re Temporarily Closed

Blind Pass Condos ClubhouseDue to damages to the property, our complex is temporarily closed. We don’t have an estimated date for re-opening yet, but are committed to moving forward. And we’ll share our progress along the way. Here’s a photo of the Clubhouse after Ian. Read more here.

Reservation Questions?

Our refund process is moving right along – we’ve issued many over the past week and are diligently working on this project. Rest assured that cancellation fees are being waived and that we are processing as many as we can during the day. Read more about our refund updates here.

Thank You to the Crew

We have a huge crew of about 30 people working at Blind Pass Condos. They are helping to tarp roofs, secure windows, clean up, clear walkways, repair the clubhouse, document damages and salvage what is possible for our wonderful community of owners. This devoted team has been working tirelessly since day one. Thank you!

Photos Around Blind Pass

Our Journey Back to Paradise Continues…

We are committed to sharing our story as we continue on this journey. Our guests, friends and Blind Pass families are a source of inspiration to all of us. Thank you for the support, the kind messages, the sweet stories and uplifting notes. We appreciate all of you and look forward to keeping you informed. Make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter, we’ll continue to share our updates and progress along the way. Thank you!

Sign up for the Blind Pass Newsletter here!