Repairs to Meigs Park Closes Facility Again: ?We Want to Do It All Before We Reopen’
By Robbyn Brooks, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
Mar. 27–SHALIMAR — If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.
That’s what Okaloosa County officials decided when they began repairs to Meigs Park in Shalimar.
The park was damaged in Tropical Storm Isidore in 2002 and again during Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
"It just wiped this park out," said Kenneth Kelley, the project’s supervisor.
It took a while for restoration to the park to get under way because Okaloosa County wanted to repair more than FEMA allotted for damages.
When crews began planning for the repair work, they noticed rotting wood and other maintenance issues that could be taken care of at once.
"We want to do it all before we reopen," Kelley said.
That’s where the holdup came in. Okaloosa County had to find funding for the other repairs.
"It’s a moving target right now," said Kathy Newby, Okaloosa County’s public information officer.
FEMA has approved almost $113,000 for repairs so far, and the remainder of the funding will come from the county’s Boating Improvement Funds.
A crew of nine men from the county’s road department is currently working on the site with a crane, a vibratory pile-driving hammer and other heavy equipment.
They’re replacing rotten and damaged wood pilings with sturdier materials that could last up to 20 years.
"Basically, we’re just wrapping the whole park in with a new sea wall," said Randy Broxson, the project’s foreman.
The new pilings will be anchored and driven 15 feet deep, making it a much stronger structure.
Kelley said not even a hurricane will do damage to the new sea wall.
The crew repairs and maintains more than 70 bridges in Okaloosa County. So this restoration concept isn’t new to them.
"We’re the only ones with the equipment and knowledge for this project," Kelley said.
Until early March, Meigs Park was open to pedestrian traffic. But it is now completely closed.
After the road crew finishes its work in about four weeks, the county’s parks department will come in for the finishing touches.
Broxson estimates a May reopening.
Daily News Staff Writer Robbyn
Brooks can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 432.
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Copyright (c) 2007, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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