# Eileen and Capt. Ferguson?



## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

I realize the Scuba Shack is closed and Gene and Eileen retired. I was wondering what happened with the boat and is Capt. Gene still running it from some other place?


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## BananaTom (Feb 16, 2008)

Scuba Shack / Wetdream Charters


Scuba Shack / Wetdream Charters၊ Pensacola, Florida .နှစ်သက်သူ ၉၈၇ ဦး · ၃၆၁ ဦး ဤနေရာတွင် ရှိခဲ့ကြသည် . We are full service dive shop located on the water of downtown Pensacola, FL. We teach SSI...




www.facebook.com





That question was asked on their Facebook page and went unanswered.


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

I just talked to Eileen and they have both Retired and sold the boat. They were heavily damaged from recent storms and decided to just quit.
3 other dive shops to choose from. 2 in Pensacola 1 in gulf breeze are qualified. Dive Pros is the only shop with a pool on site.


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## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

sealark said:


> I just talked to Eileen and they have both Retired and sold the boat. They were heavily damaged from recent storms and decided to just quit.
> 3 other dive shops to choose from. 2 in Pensacola 1 in gulf breeze are qualified. Dive Pros is the only shop with a pool on site.


Did Eileen say if the boat sold locally? I was curious if someone other than Gene was running it.


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

Gene not running any boat I know nothing more than another owner. They were down there when I talked to her clearing there stuff from shop. They are both through and retired.


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## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

sealark said:


> Gene not running any boat I know nothing more than another owner. They were down there when I talked to her clearing there stuff from shop. They are both through and retired.


Last time I saw them was a few years back when I went to buy my daughter a mask for Christmas. I remember her talking with me about the depth of the Oriskany and how the Corp of Engineers wouldn't budge to put in shallower water. I went there in the seventies to fill some tanks for a group that came here from Chattanooga. Eileen and Gene ran that place for a long time and deserve a good retirement. Thanks Ron for telling me what happened.

I heard that Brian Spenser was going to tear the building down and put condos. It doesn't look like there is much room for them.


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

SHunter said:


> Last time I saw them was a few years back when I went to buy my daughter a mask for Christmas. I remember her talking with me about the depth of the Oriskany and how the Corp of Engineers wouldn't budge to put in shallower water. I went there in the seventies to fill some tanks for a group that came here from Chattanooga. Eileen and Gene ran that place for a long time and deserve a good retirement. Thanks Ron for telling me what happened.
> 
> I heard that Brian Spenser was going to tear the building down and put condos. It doesn't look like there is much room for them.


They don't want the space or anything else. Just fade away with many good memories.


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## OldMan-theSea (May 14, 2018)

SHunter said:


> I heard that Brian Spenser was going to tear the building down and put condos. It doesn't look like there is much room for them.


Damn! My grandfather’s office was upstairs .... Witherall’s chandlery, then Killinger’s, was downstairs. Great grandfather’s office was across the street.


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## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

OldMan-theSea said:


> Damn! My grandfather’s office was upstairs .... Witherall’s chandlery, then Killinger’s, was downstairs. Great grandfather’s office was across the street.


Sad to see old buildings with our history torn down for condos. Maybe Spenser will come up with a better option for the space.


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## Big E Nuff (Oct 4, 2007)

SHunter said:


> Sad to see old buildings with our history torn down for condos. Maybe Spenser will come up with a better option for the space.


When they drove the pilings in for the parking garage next to it, it messed the building up really bad. I think they had a law suit on the construction company responsible for the damage.


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## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

Big E Nuff said:


> When they drove the pilings in for the parking garage next to it, it messed the building up really bad. I think they had a law suit on the construction company responsible for the damage.


So is the building bad enough that it has to be torn down? It looked OK from the outside when I looked through the window last week.


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## BananaTom (Feb 16, 2008)

SHunter said:


> So is the building bad enough that it has to be torn down? It looked OK from the outside when I looked through the window last week.


FROM PNJ:








111-year old Scuba Shack building on South Palafox Street to be demolished


The Pensacola Planning Board gave final approval Tuesday to demolish the 111-year-old Scuba Shack building near the Palafox Wharf area.



www.pnj.com






A 111-year-old building near Pensacola's Palafox Wharf area will be torn down to make way for a multi-story residential development.

The building at 711 S. Palafox St. was the long-time home of the Scuba Shack, which closed after the owners retired and sold the building to Pensacola resident Jim English last year. 

The Pensacola Planning Board gave final approval Tuesday for the demolition of the building. 

Because the building is more than 50 years old, the city's Architectural Review Board had to review the demolition request. The ARB voted in December to delay the demolition permit for 60 days, which pushed back the Planning Board hearing on the issue until Tuesday.

English told the ARB in December he supports historic renovation, but the building was in no shape to be restored after damage to the foundation caused by flooding during multiple hurricanes. 

Pensacola architect Brian Spencer, who represented English, told the Planning Board Tuesday that the plan was to replace the building with between three and four residential units and a mixed-use venue.

Spencer said they did not have firm plans for the building because they can't do the necessary engineering work to understand what kind of foundation will be needed until the old building is removed.

"It is imperative that we have a geotech and soils investigation completed to better understand what sort of support, what piling design may be necessary, as we explore various building solutions and building levels," Spencer said.

The building was built in 1910 by Morris Bear and housed the Zelius' ship chandlery until about 1917. It passed through several owners over the years until it became the Scuba Shack in 1981.

Planning Board Chairman Paul Ritz said the building looked like it was renovated in the 1970s and the outside of the building was changed from the original historic façade. 

"As far as my opinion on the current aesthetics, they aren't anything special, which would tend to lead me to not object to the demolition," Ritz said.

Board member Kurt Larson said he initially thought the building would be worth preserving.

"I was looking at it from a historic perspective as one of the first (ship) chandleries in this area in the 1900s," Larson said. "It would have been nice to save, but after looking at the building itself and the deteriorating conditions, I think that it might be best just to let it go and move on with the next phase."

Outside of the building Tuesday, Jeff and Heather Petresky were looking in the windows to see if anyone was at the old Scuba Shack shop. 

They told the News Journal they met while working jobs at the dive shop in 1985 and they're now married and live in Orlando.


"It was a great place," Heather Petresky said. "It was really kind of a cool location right there on the water. The fact that it's going to be torn down is kind of sad but looking at all of the growth on Palafox, I guess it was kind of inevitable that eventually, that's what it would come to."

_Jim Little can be reached at [email protected] and 850-208-9827._


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