So, What’s Going On With Pine Island?

Hernando County residents have had some bad luck lately with Pine Island, the county’s only beach park. Following August 2023’s Hurricane Idalia, the park was closed for eight months while the county contracted for over $374,000 in repairs to rebuild retaining walls, a new concession stand, and bathroom facilities, among other things, at the popular beach. And they did a pretty good job with it, if you didn’t mind the wait.

Pine Island reopened to the delight of both residents and tourists on March 28, 2024, and it seemed like things were getting back on track as Idalia’s memory began to fade. But only six months later, the park was destroyed again, first by Hurricane Helene in late August, and then with another blow in October, this time by Hurricane Milton.

Again, we have all been left wondering when Pine Island would reopen. A quick drone flight over the park revealed that the damage didn’t look that bad. Yes, the concession stand was gone again, as was the toll building at the entrance to the park. The pier was damaged, as you might expect, but the beaches looked decent…good enough, in fact, to make us wonder why the park was not useable until repairs were made. And, of course, there was that looming question of how the county could mitigate damage costs this time around should Pine Island get hit a third time.

Hernando County government provided some answers. So, let’s start with the current status. We all know about “the speed of government.” There are a lot of boxes to be checked, I’s dotted, T’s crossed, meetings, and maybe even some mail to get any publicly funded project off of the ground. And as of this week, the county has just about finished that part up.

According to Robert Talmage, Hernando County Parks and Recreation Administrator, damage assessment has been completed, as have new design plans. Those plans will have been submitted to the Board of County Commissioners by the time you read this, and with approval, bids will be going out for work.

In response to our query, Talmadge said, “The plan is to create a much more resilient park that can handle the frequent storm threats that our coastline experiences.” Talmadge added that the county was seeking to build resiliency this time around by adding facilities that will accommodate mobile concession vehicles as well as mobile restroom facilities that can be removed prior to threatening weather.

Talmadge said that reopening Pine Island is now the County’s main focus, and they want to get it operable as soon as possible. Officials are hoping for a March-April time frame to reopen, though that may be a bit optimistic.

Talmadge added, “It is important to note that the storm events created a definite delay to many of the parks within our jurisdiction – not only Pine Island suffered damages……Staff has completed almost all restoration and cleanup efforts of all the 20 parks located in Hernando County.”

Regarding the question of opening Pine Island during the rebuilding phase, Talmadge pointed out that the beaches are simply unsafe. He said that most of the beach sand was washed away, and restoration would require more than 80 loads of sand to replenish them. Additionally, concrete trucks and the need to rebuild the retaining walls would simply create too much traffic, mixing with pedestrians in a limited space to do it safely, he said.