ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A historic building along Central Avenue in St. Petersburg is being repaired after lightning struck its 100-year-old facade on Wednesday.

What You Need To Know

  • The building that houses the Mari Jean Hotel had part of its siding hit by lightning Wednesday

  • Officials say no one was hurt, but the historic piece of St. Petersburg is now in need of repairs

  • Owner David Fisher said he was thankful there were no injuries

The building that houses the Mari Jean Hotel had part of its siding hit by lightning, causing pieces of the structure to fall onto the sidewalk.

“Thank God nobody was hurt,” said Mari Jean owner David Fischer. “And nobody was underneath it, because it was pouring so hard at the time.”

According to Fischer, he got the call Wednesday night that a fun evening at his establishment took a quick turn because of Mother Nature.

“All of the sudden they said lightning hit the building,” he said.

He said one, potentially two lightning strikes happened at his hotel — hitting the top portion of the building and causing debris to tumble down and slam into their awning, sidewalk and pool bar next door.

“It somewhat exploded the top edge of our facade of our building," he said.

Pieces of the structure were still on the ground Thursday.

So far, according to Fischer, much of the damage appears to be superficial, aside from some technology that powers the TVs inside the night club Fischer owns next door.

Caution tape remained up Thursday, but the hotel is still in operation, as is his pool bar and night club.

“The employees were pretty shocked by what had happened,” Fischer said. "Seeing the bricks fly kind of all over the sidewalk."

No one was hurt, but the historic piece of St. Petersburg is now in need of repairs.

“It’s amazing that it sat there for 100 years and now it’s come down," Fischer said. "So we have to get it rebuilt and put back to where it looks historically correct."

While that process has already begun, Fischer said he was thankful operations could continue inside his businesses without any injuries.

Fischer said he hopes to be able to remove the caution tape and the debris by Friday, and have the front entrance back open to guests.

He said they plan on working with the historical society to make sure they reconstruction of the building’s facade is done correctly.