A $300,000 donation from David and Nancy Bilheimer has pushed the Dunedin Boat Club and Sailing Center's rebuild campaign past two-thirds of its $1 million goal, bringing the total raised to roughly $700,000.
The gift, announced the week of Aug. 18, is the largest single contribution to the effort to replace the historic blue boathouse at 49 Marina Plaza that Hurricanes Helene and Milton destroyed in fall 2024. The damaged structure was demolished in May 2025, and Dunedin city commissioners unanimously approved a rebuild on the original site on Sept. 4, 2025.
"We thought the Dunedin Boat Club was just a boat club until we got involved and started looking at it," David Bilheimer told Tampa Bay Beacons. He spent his career in the air-conditioning systems business in New York City. Nancy Bilheimer, a former school teacher, said they were particularly impressed by Sailability, one of five nonprofit partners in the project.
Those five partners are the Dunedin Boat Club, Sailability (which since 2001 has helped children and adults of all abilities access the water), the Dunedin Youth Sailing Association, the Windlasses (a women's racing group) and Science on the Sound, an environmental nonprofit offering after-school programs, summer camps and boat-based expeditions.
Two hurricanes destroyed the clubhouse a month apart
Hurricane Helene flooded the clubhouse with two to three feet of water and destroyed its west porch. Milton then caused the marina's east seawall to collapse. The city's agreement includes a $100,000 grant for restrooms and a 50-year use agreement at $1 per year. The club has three years from that September 2025 approval to raise sufficient funds, with a possible one-year extension.
The new facility will be city-owned but independently operated, modeled on the Dunedin Fine Art Center's structure. SDG Architecture of Dunedin designed the building to mirror the color and style of the former clubhouse, with an open ground level for water views.
Campaign grew from $95,000 to $700,000 in under a year
The campaign launched in September 2025 and reached $95,659 by the end of January 2026. By the end of May, 144 donors had contributed $241,576. Then came a $100,000 gift from Dunedin residents Marci Wilhelm and Brent Irish, announced April 5. Wilhelm said the donation was inspired by the loss of their own historic waterfront home on Victoria Drive, into which they had invested more than $500,000 in restoration before structural deterioration made it unsafe.
The Bilheimers' $300,000 gift tripled that record and vaulted the campaign toward its goal.
Dunedin Boat Club Commodore Craig Polito called the couple "extraordinary people" and said the gift "puts our dream well within reach." The Bilheimers' prior philanthropy in the region includes naming gifts to the Capitol Theatre in Clearwater (now the Nancy & David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre), Ruth Eckerd Hall, the Dunedin Fine Art Center and Mease Countryside Hospital.
Founded Sept. 3, 1929, the Dunedin Boat Club will mark its 100th anniversary in 2029. Its 261 memberships represent 424 members.
How to donate to the rebuild fund
Tax-deductible contributions can be made at dunedinboatclub.org/page-18195 or HelpDBC.org. Donations are held by the Pinellas Community Foundation. Checks should be made payable to Pinellas Community Foundation with the memo "DBC Sailing Center Fund."
Club meets monthly at the Scottish American Society
The Dunedin Boat Club holds general membership meetings on the third Tuesday of each month at the Scottish American Society, 917 Louden Ave., Dunedin.
