The Gulf Pier reopened on Thursday, July 23, 2009 after the old pier was destroyed in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan. The pier is the largest pier on the Gulf of Mexico at 1540 ft long and 41,800 sq ft in area. The pier boasts features that were not available on the previous pier such as indoor seating for concession area, indoor retail area for tackle and souvenirs, comfort stations at the midpoint of the pier and wheelchair accessible rail fishing. The new pier has 2,448 feet of fishing space available along the rails.