Parks 'like new' thanks to storms
BY VICI PAPAJOHN Gulf Breeze News vici@gulfbreezenews.com

Shoreline Park South has new picnic gazebos, a pier and handicap-accessible bath house.

After Hurricane Ivan the City of Gulf Breeze coordinated the removal of over 150,000 cubic yards of vegetative debris.

"It was really a graphic problem," remembers City Parks Director Ron Pulley. "The debris pile was over 60 feet tall and covered nearly seven and a half acres."

The pile filled Shoreline Park for months, obliterating what was left of the softball, baseball and T-ball fields. And nearly every park in town was damaged significantly by the Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis as well.

"The sad truth is that what Ivan didn't damage, Dennis did," Pulley told Gulf Breeze Rotarians last month. "We are responsible for 24 public spaces within the city, all of which required help."

Probably the most damaged areas requiring Pulley's care were the Shoreline Park South and the Wayside Park at the foot of the Three Mile Bridge. "Ivan took out Shoreline Park South, and Dennis did its number on Wayside Park," Pulley says.

After two and a half years and over $6 million later, the parks are better than ever. Though the clock started ticking immediately after Ivan, Pulley says that the rebuilding process did not begin until "about this time last year. It seems like it has taken forever. All the necessary planning, public meetings, funding and coordination with FEMA all added up."

The waterside parks have been a priority. Wayside East and West, Shoreline Park South, Vista Park (at the foot of the Bob Sikes Bridge), Baycliffs Preserve, beach access points on Eufaula Street and Malaga all add up to $4 million in reconstruction, the majority of which was reimbursed by FEMA.

"FEMA worked with us throughout this process and provided funding that made these restoration programs possible," Pulley says.

And the completed beauty of Shoreline Park South or the Wayside Parks hide some serious preventative

construction as well.

"Behind the rip rap and below the boardwalk area of these parks there are the original and the reinforced seawalls that add extra protection against wave damage," Pulley says. "The gazebos are built as rectangles, and vented with cupolas that also reduce wind resistance. They are all built to withstand 140 mph winds."

And the handicap-accessible boardwalk and pier at Shoreline Park South is built in separate pieces so that each gazebo stands on its own, each decking section stands on its own independently and they will not pull each other apart. They are built to resist wind and flood damage."

The boat launch was rebuilt with new, massive slabs of concrete designed to resist wave and storm erosion.

The rebuilt Vista Park has additional bracing, and an octagonal head to break the waves.

Wayside Park has a rebuilt fishing pier angled to the northeast. It should take up some of the slack from the demise of the Bridge Pier, previously the most popular fishing spot, according to Pulley. New gazebos and lighting are also completed at the park.

"Erosion was huge from Dennis and Ivan and wave action broke up the Wayside sea wall. We added riprap the length of the shoreline and built the boardwalk over the sea wall and riprap. The seawall allows continued protection and the boardwalk protects the seawall. I hope we never see another storm, but if we do we'll be ready."

And in the meantime, residents can enjoy the rebuilt facilities.