The Manhattan Casino Is Back. So Why Can't You Just Walk In?
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
On September 19, the City of St. Petersburg cut the ribbon on the Historic Manhattan Casino at 642 22nd St. S. The building had been closed for four years and went through a renovation that St. Pete Rising puts at $4.8 million and The Gabber rounds to about $5 million. People toured the building that morning. Since then, the doors have opened for whoever has booked the room.
The Casino now runs on a model it has never used before. The City owns it, the City operates it, and the building opens when someone books it. Weddings, conferences, family gatherings and live performances are the events the City has in mind. The venue's own website lists rental inquiries, weekday office hours and tours by appointment. It has no public event calendar for October through December. For most of 22nd Street South this fall, you'll get to know the restored landmark from the sidewalk, through other people's events and by appointment. On the same blocks, the doors you can open on your own belong to much smaller rooms.
The rental model makes more sense once you see how many arrangements came before it. St. Pete Rising traces this history.
After 2022, the City chose to run the building itself rather than find another private operator. That decision explains the empty public calendar. The building now runs on bookings. It no longer depends on a tenant who needs daily foot traffic to pay rent. The City's opening release says the project also received $1 million in state historic preservation funding.
Mayor Kenneth T. Welch said in the release that the reopening "honors the Deuces legacy while creating new space for arts, culture, and economic opportunity." He added that the City remains "committed to continuing the important work of investing in the Deuces Corridor."
The renovation was built for events. The two floors can host separate events at the same time. The building seats up to 180 guests, or 300 in auditorium-style seating.
Downstairs. The 2,232-square-foot Legacy Room, an entry foyer with a bar, a conference room, a green room, pre-function space and a catering kitchen.
Upstairs. The 4,152-square-foot Jordan Ballroom, named for Elder Jordan Sr. This is the historic music hall, now with new drapery, a raised ceiling and refinished floors.
Throughout. New flooring, new air conditioning and a stage for live bands.
Rates. Six-hour rentals start at $1,000, and short-term rentals start at $250 an hour. Nonprofits get discounted rates.
Booking. Email [email protected] or call the main line at 727-892-5400. The office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
At the opening rate, $1,000 buys six hours in a room that hosted Duke Ellington. For a neighborhood association, a church group or a family planning a milestone party, that puts the ballroom within reach of a single event budget. That's the clearest way into the building this fall.
If you only want to look inside, the venue offers tours by appointment through a request form on its website. Weekday office hours make a lunch-hour visit realistic. A Saturday stroll in won't work.
Some of the reopening needs no appointment. The September 19 ceremony unveiled a new exterior mural by artist Egypt Hagan, 14 feet by 23 feet. It honors the Casino's history, its place in the Deuces and the musicians who played there. The same ceremony rededicated the Elder Jordan statue, and City Poet Laureate Denzel Johnson-Green read an original poem.
The mural and the statue face the street every day of the week. They are the parts of the $4.8 million project you can see whenever you like, on foot or on a slow drive down 22nd Street South.
A few blocks down the street, a much smaller reopening took place the day before the Casino's.
St. Pete Ceramics reopened quietly on September 18 at 593 22nd St. S., eight months after a January fire destroyed its space, kilns, pottery wheels and equipment. The size gap between the two reopenings is large. The Casino's two main rooms total more than 6,000 square feet. While St. Pete Ceramics rebuilt, co-founders Beth Miranda and Ethan Fielder kept their members working in two temporary studios at Five Deuces Galleria, owned by Three Daughters Brewing, each about 110 to 120 square feet. A GoFundMe that Miranda's daughters launched the day of the fire raised nearly $30,000. That money covered rent, replacement equipment and other rebuilding costs.
"We wouldn't be here without the GoFundMe and the community," Miranda told St. Pete Rising.
The rebuilt studio covers 1,800 square feet with an open floor plan, because the old interior walls are gone. It has eight members and plans to cap membership at 12. Everyone else gets in through one-time workshops and flexible five-class packages. The Gabber lists pottery painting, paint-and-sip, private clay classes and four-week wheel classes, all bookable through stpeteceramics.com. Miranda has also started the Clay Collective of Pinellas, a nonprofit that supports clay artists and businesses across the county.
The studio is throwing a public party for the reopening. Its Grand Reopening Haunted Carnival runs 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. "It's going to be a giant party," Miranda said.
The Woodson African American Museum of Florida is another place you can just walk into. Its current exhibition, "Many Voices, One Nation – Our Community," was developed with Florida Humanities, the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History for America's 250th anniversary. It pairs national Smithsonian material with locally curated content on St. Petersburg and the Gulf Coast. Admission is free Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m., and the exhibit runs through January 2027. The museum closed briefly for roof maintenance and resumed regular hours on September 29.
For an evening on the street, ArtsXchange at 515 22nd St. S. hosts the Warehouse Arts District Association's Figure Drawing Lab on Tuesdays from 6:30 to 9 p.m. It costs $10 and is open to ages 18 and up.
Here is how the walk-in options and the appointment-only landmark line up between today, October 5, and mid-November.
A Saturday this fall could start at the Woodson when it opens at noon and end at the ceramics carnival. Planning a reunion, a shower or a nonprofit fundraiser for next year? An email to [email protected] is how you put your own event on the Jordan Ballroom's calendar.
The Casino renovation showed what new air conditioning, a raised ceiling and refinished floors can do for an older building. Michelle Ward's construction background helps owners see which upgrades in their own older St. Pete homes add real value and which mostly add cost. If you're weighing that kind of work, start with a clear number from The Michelle Ward Group and get your instant home valuation.
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