ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — Pinellas County has announced details of a project to widen and restore one of the area’s favorite beaches.
Pass-a-Grille Beach has suffered some major erosion over the last couple of years, but recently the dunes were restored. Now, they’re planning to extend the beach as well.
“Well, it was much wider,” said visitor Beck Bonds.
Bonds and others who frequent Pass-a-Grille wonder where all the sand has gone. A thin strip of what used to extend out to the Gulf of Mexico is all that’s left.
“It was upsetting,” said Bonds. “It was upsetting that it doesn't have the beach anymore.”
Now, Pinellas County announced a two-phase project to bring the beach back.
“In the end it'll be about 140,000 cubic yards of sand,” said Pinellas County Coastal Management Coordinator John Bishop. “And probably take a total of four to five months.”
The plan is to use sand being dredged from the nearby Grand Canal — first filling in the area south of the Hurricane Grill.
Then a second phase will use sand from the nearby Pass-a-Grille channel to replenish the beach to the north. That phase still needs permit approval.
The cost is about $4 million dollars, which will come courtesy of tourists through the county’s bed tax.
“Our visitors had a total economic impact of almost $11 billion,” said Visit St. Pete Clearwater CEO Brian Lowack. “So, the money is truly well spent when we reinvest it in these beaches. Not only for our visitors, but also for our residents.”
Some of the already hard-to-find parking on Pass-a-Grille Beach will have to be closed off for heavy equipment, but local business owners say the short-term sacrifice is worth it.
“Once it’s over, the sand is going to be absolutely beautiful,” said Rick Falkenstein, owner of the Hurricane Seafood Restaurant. “Sugar sand sand.”
“I'm glad to see that because we don't wanna lose our beaches in our nature in our homes and all of that,” said beach visitor Sandy Franz. “So, I think it's a great idea.”
If all goes as planned, the project will begin June 3 and end sometime around August or September.
Planners are well aware that’s the middle of hurricane season — and that another major storm could quickly wash away what's been done.
“This project really has to happen now. It may be peak season, but it's also before the hurricane season, so we need to try to get as much protection out here as we can,” Bishop said. “Prior to the next storm season since it's supposed to be a very active storm season. So, I think this is very well timed.”
The county is also considering the potential environmental impact when it comes to turtle nesting season. They plan to relocate any existing nests to an undisclosed location where they can hatch before the work begins.
Leaders say the sand along Pass-a-Grille needs to be renourished every 10 years to protect the shoreline.
Right now, there's about 50 feet of beach in the area. When the project is done, that will be extended to about 165 feet.