St. Petersburg is officially putting the band back together at the Manhattan Casino. On April 28, 2026, the city announced that the long-closed landmark on the Deuces will be refreshed and reimagined as a two-level event and music venue for residents and visitors, returning to service as a rental hall for weddings, conferences and concerts while keeping its historic soul front and center. Renovations are slated to wrap in spring 2026, with bookings expected to open later this year.
St. Pete's iconic Manhattan Casino is getting a refresh! This historic venue is being updated to reopen as a premier event space for residents and visitors alike — a hub for events, conferences, and of course, its greatest love: MUSIC! Stay tuned for more details! pic.twitter.com/XFYYHNoANp
— St. Petersburg, FL (@StPeteFL) April 28, 2026
City-backed makeover details
City Hall is putting roughly $4.8 million into a top-to-bottom redesign that turns the two-story building into flexible event halls with upgraded restrooms plus a redesigned foyer and bar, according to St. Pete Catalyst. Renderings reviewed by Tampa Bay Business Journal show a second-floor music hall with about 4,152 square feet, while the first floor adds roughly 2,234 square feet of pre-function and meeting space and lists Oldsmar-based Ajax Building Company as the general contractor. Officials also plan to shrink the ground-floor commercial kitchen to free up more usable event space, the reporting notes.
City will operate the venue
Instead of bringing in another private operator, city leaders opted to run the Manhattan Casino themselves as an affordable, city-operated event space, with the FY26 budget creating a dedicated enterprise fund to staff and manage the venue, according to the city's FY26 budget documents. City of St. Petersburg materials outline new positions and a modest FY26 subsidy to support operations. Local coverage also notes the project has secured roughly $1 million in state historic-preservation funds to help pay for the restoration, which officials say reflects broader support for protecting Black cultural landmarks, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
A cornerstone of South St. Pete history
Built in 1926 by Elder Jordan as the Jordan Dance Hall, the building later became the Manhattan Casino and evolved into a crucial cultural hub for Black St. Pete, hosting giants like Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong, according to the Woodson African American Museum. The museum traces the venue's ties to Jordan Park and its role as a social center during segregation. More recent efforts to revive the property brought the 22 South food hall and short-lived event programming, but those operations shut down after the city's lease with former operators ended in late 2022, reporting shows, per St. Pete Catalyst.
What's next for the Deuces
Officials say construction should wrap in spring 2026, with rental policies and a booking calendar rolling out as the project nears completion. The city's April 28 announcement on X sticks to that timeline and urges residents to stay tuned for more details. Councilmembers have cast the revival as both an economic play and a cultural restoration for the Deuces, while community leaders are pushing for programming that centers local artists and keeps rental rates within reach, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
