CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Hurricane Harvey is to blame for the damage to Cole Park Pier, and two-and-a-half years after the devastating storm, that damage remains.
"This is an important piece of our culture, our history -- our identity," said District 2 City Council Member Ben Molina. "I'm working really hard to make sure we get it back up and running as soon as we can."
The city closed the pier in April 2018 after an inspection revealed a large crack in the pier's concrete. The following April, a large section of the pier collapsed.
Molina said the old pier has been deemed unsalvageable, and will be torn down to make way for a new one.
"This has not been forgotten," Molina said. "We have been working on it.
The city has a press conference scheduled for Monday in which it'll announce which design firm will develop plans for the new pier. Molina didn't have an estimate as to what the project would cost: He said the design firm will make that calculation in the future.
Molina said the design process will take between six and 12 months to complete. Destruction of the old pier and construction of the new one are a one-to-two year process.
But he thinks it's worth the wait.
"You can't talk to anybody here in Corpus Christi that doesn't have a memory here on Cole Park (Pier)," he said.
