"We thought we would be a space that helped people build pottery businesses," Beth Miranda told St. Pete Rising this fall. "It turns out we're a space that helps people with life." Miranda co-owns St. Pete Ceramics, the community studio in the Warehouse Arts District. Fire gutted it in January, and it reopened on September 18.
The next day, the City of St. Petersburg cut the ribbon at the Historic Manhattan Casino. Six days after that, The Chattaway opened its doors under new owners. Over eight days in September, three south-side places that had been closed, damaged or headed for a sale all came back. Each one came back with more room, more hours of use, or more ways in than it had before.
Eight Days, One Number in Every Address
All three share a 22nd in their address. Here is the order they returned in:
- September 18: St. Pete Ceramics, 593 22nd St. S, Warehouse Arts District, reopened quietly
- September 19: Historic Manhattan Casino, 642 22nd St. S, Deuces, held its public ribbon cutting
- September 25: The Chattaway, 358 22nd Ave. S, reopened under new ownership
The two places on 22nd Street South sit almost next door to each other. The Chattaway is farther east, on the pie-shaped corner of 22nd Avenue South and 4th Street South, where a wooden building went up in the early 1920s and first housed a neighborhood grocery. They came back for different reasons, but each one was rebuilt the same way.
The Chattaway's Patio No Longer Closes for Rain
Earlier this year, the restaurant's future was uncertain. The property went under contract, and the longtime owners got ready to close. Jillian Kitto Frers had run The Chattaway for nearly half a century and created The Chattaway Tea Room. In August she shared a farewell letter with the Tampa Bay Times. That same month, co-owner Debby Kitto confirmed the restaurant would change hands by mid-September. The buyers were local developer Cullen Mahoney and restaurateurs Mark Ferguson and John John Delladonna.
Ferguson owns Ferg's Sports Bar and Delladonna owns Shrimpy's Waterfront. The three bought both the restaurant and the 0.70-acre property it sits on. Owning the land matters for a place whose future hinged on a property sale.
The most practical change is outside. The new owners added a second outdoor bar and an overhead canopy with fans, so the patio stays open in weather that used to close the restaurant. The Chattaway now has a full liquor license too.
The menu keeps the longtime favorites, including the burger Mahoney has called "the holy grail" of The Chattaway experience. New additions include fresh seafood inspired by Shrimpy's, Ferg's wings and vegan options. Inside, the bathrooms stay largely as they were. The front restroom now has a mural by Doodles by Lu.
The tea room may be the clearest sign of where the restaurant is headed. The owners plan to repair its deteriorated floor and turn it into a more regularly used dining space, while also replacing aging equipment and handling safety needs. New merchandise is in the works as well, including shirts printed with vintage photographs from the restaurant's past. The published reporting does not list current hours, so check thechattaway.com before you go.
A Studio Rebuilt Without Interior Walls
The St. Pete Ceramics fire happened before sunrise on Wednesday, January 28. It destroyed walls, shelving, tables, stools and equipment, and two rabbits that lived at the studio died. Firefighters believe an electrical issue caused it.
The recovery started fast. Fellow artists showed up with bagels, coffee, pizza and gloves, and within about 36 hours volunteers had emptied and cleaned out the damaged studio. A week after the fire, the studio moved into a temporary home at Five Deuces Galleria. That meant two small studios owned by Three Daughters Brewing, each about 110 to 120 square feet. Miranda's daughters started a GoFundMe that raised nearly $30,000. It covered rent while the studio had no permanent space, replaced lost equipment and paid other rebuilding costs. Miranda also spent weeks washing surviving pottery in her kitchen sink and dishwasher so she could sell it at markets.
The 1,800-square-foot studio that reopened is laid out very differently. The fire took out the interior walls, and Miranda and business partner Ethan Fielder chose not to put them back. The new open floor plan gives them one large workshop area with room for members, classes and future community gatherings.
| What's on offer | Details as of October 1, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Membership | Eight current members, capped at 12 |
| Classes | One-time workshops and flexible five-class packages for all experience levels |
| Still being built | Gallery space, a wall of ceramic mugs, outdoor lounge |
| New spinoff | Clay Collective of Pinellas, a nonprofit supporting clay artists and businesses countywide |
The Clay Collective takes the studio's reach past its own walls. Miranda says its mission is to support clay artists and businesses "both fiscally and mentally," and she hopes it will encourage art-related tourism in St. Pete.
Two Floors, Two Events at Once
The Manhattan Casino had been closed the longest. It was built in 1925 and closed for renovations in 2022. Over the decades it hosted live music, performances, baby showers, weddings and community celebrations. The project received $1 million in state historic preservation funding. In the city's words, the building has played an important role in "St. Petersburg's Black history and cultural heritage."
The renovation follows the same pattern as the other two. The building is now a fully rentable event venue, and its two floors can host separate events at the same time. Capacity is up to 180 guests seated or 300 in auditorium-style seating. The first floor is new, with an event space, conference room, pre-function areas, green room, bar and catering kitchen. Upstairs, the historic music hall and ballroom got new drapery, a raised ceiling and refinished floors, adding up to more than 4,000 square feet of flexible event space.
The outside has changed too. A new 14-by-23-foot mural by artist Egypt Hagan honors the building's history, its role in the Deuces community and the musicians who once played there. The reopening also rededicated the statue of Elder Jordan. It honors his role in building the Manhattan Casino and Jordan Park, which the city describes as its first public housing development, created on land Mr. Jordan donated. Anyone planning a gathering can find booking details at historicmanhattancasino.com.
The Part That Is Still Under Construction
None of the three is finished. The Chattaway's tea room floor is still on the to-do list. St. Pete Ceramics is still building its gallery, mug wall and outdoor lounge. The Manhattan Casino's new life depends on bookings that are only now starting. Each place reopened to a public that can now help decide how its added space gets used.
The next date on the calendar belongs to the studio. St. Pete Ceramics will hold its grand reopening party and Halloween-themed carnival on Saturday, October 24, from 5 to 9 p.m. Expect live music, food from Zee's Barbecue, The Chef Upstairs and Eat Art Love, plus local art, vendors and family activities around the Warehouse Arts District. "It's really about celebrating that we're back and everybody who helped get us here," Miranda said.
If you'd like to make an afternoon of it, Reverie Room opened September 29 at 655 31st St. S, also in the Warehouse Arts District. The bookstore has a reading lounge and plans community events. On the Manhattan Casino's reopening day, the city also pointed visitors to Deuces Corner Park and the Woodson African American Museum of Florida. Both are still close by for a Deuces stop of your own.
The owners of all three places kept what people loved and changed what was keeping the doors closed. Homeowners with an older St. Pete house face the same question about what to keep and what to update. If you're working through that, KT Tershowski is glad to talk through which updates add usable space and which ones take away character. Let's Connect.
