#News: Cabana Club restoration begins (Iconic oceanfront club closed for two months)

#News: Cabana Club restoration begins (Iconic oceanfront club closed for two months) - A group of people posing for the camera -

April Tracy and her brother Mike were making big decisions this past Wednesday as construction crews hammered through the concrete pool deck of the Cabana Club on Key Colony Beach.

Amid the chaos of the biggest renovation project since Hurricane Georges (1998) that sent the wooden pier into the pool and through the building, they discussed the possibility of installing new umbrellas directly into the brick paver patio deck.

The pavers, along with a “zero edge” pool deck, new tile and a spa with waterfall are among the many features coming for the family-owned business once it reopens November 1.

“Having the spa in the pool with a little waterfall will be just enough to give the place a whole different ambiance,” said April modestly.

Her mom and dad, Norma and Cole Tracy, purchased the club in 1979 and have made numerous improvements through the decades — although none as drastic as the $500,000 renovation now taking place.

And April and Mike are hoping the investment “squelches any ideas that we are going to sell,” he said.

At the beginning of the year the Tracy family sold the adjoining restaurant, Cabana Breezes, to Chicago’s Glunz family.

Coming Soon:

• “Zero Edge” pool design with new tile

• Spa with incorporated waterfall

• Installation of bench seating on the south side of shallow end

• Curved entrance stairs in corners of pool

• New brick paver pool patio

• Renovated snack bar

Cole Tracy’s family has owned the Cabana Club since 1979. Pictured, three generations, clockwise from left: April, Tracy, Sara, Mike, Rex and Cole.

The renovation began the day after Labor Day and until the pool reopens November 1, Cabana Club members are allowed to use the pool and beach at the Glunz Ocean Beach Resort next door.

Jason Koler, born in Florida and raised in Ohio, is the “better looking and way smarter” Keys Weekly publisher. When not chasing his children or rubbing his wife’s feet, he enjoys folding laundry and performing experimental live publishing.