- Technical design drawings finalized on March 1
- Nueces County Parks Board will review the drawings on March 18
- $27.3 million dollar project
- Construction set to start later in 2024
Engineers working on the Bob Hall pier redesign plan finalized technical design drawings on March 1.
The next step in the process is for Nueces Coastal Parks Board to review the designs at a special meeting on March 18. Then, the Nueces County Commissioners hope to approve the pier design to go out for bids at Commissioner's Court on March 20th.
“And then you’ve gotta go through the contract phase," Nueces County Presinct 4 Commissioner Brent Chesney said. "So there’s that part of it too so once you award the bid, then you’ve gotta get all the contracts, and that’s not a quick simple process either because you’ve gotta make sure it’s all right and that the documents are right and so once you get the contract awarded, or the bid awarded, ans you do that, so it’ll start this year. I just don’t know exactly when.”
Commissioner Chesney said that the Bob Hall Pier redesign project has been a long time coming, but it is on track and on budget as of right now.
"But my hope would be we would be awarding a bid sometime this summer, so that's kind of the track we're on," Chesney said. "Knock on wood, we've stayed on track and on budget so far with everything else, so we're hoping this stays on track. Something could fall off the wheels, could fall off somewhere, but I don't anticipate it because we've been able to keep it pretty well on time."
Commissioner Cheney recognized that residents and visitors of Padre Island have been patiently awaiting a new pier since it was destroyed by Hurricane Hanna in 2020.
"I can tell you that I’m as anxious and ready for the pier as they are. Really and truly, this thing has gone pretty much according to plan," Chesney said.
The Bob Hall Pier redesign plan is a $27.3 million project.
“So we didn’t have 26, 27 million dollars just lying around, we had to go find it. And we did. That took some time. So, we’ve pretty much stayed on tack and on budget. It just takes a long time to rebuild a 27 million dollar pier in the middle of the ocean," Chesney said.
Commissioner Chesney planned to have multiple amenities included in the plan such as a restaurant/bar and a concessions store.
"We have been told we believe we can include the restaurant as a contingent bid item so that, that will also be in the Bob Hall bid. Once then I have to raise that other million dollars, that I'm still lacking for that, if we get that, then we'll able to not be delayed, on that one and we can just roll that into the bid," Chesney said.
He hopes for the pier and restaurant to be build at the same time.
“So the hope would be is the pier would be built and the restaurant would be built consecutively. As long as I’m able to go and find the money, and again those responses have been very favorable and I feel pretty comfortable that we’ll get some good amount of money there too," Chesney said.
Commissioner Chesney said that construction on the pier should start later in 2024. It is estimated that the rebuild could take up to a year and a half.
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