The City of Naples is taking the next step in its beach restoration efforts. This month, officials will begin the bidding process to select a contractor to repair and upgrade the city’s 35 public beach accesses, many of which remain damaged from recent hurricanes.
At 10th Avenue South, broken concrete and missing tiles still litter the ground. But city leaders hope to transform it into something new. A rendering of the future design shows improvements such as new bike racks, garbage cans, benches, greenery, and a staircase leading to the beach.
Some beach accesses remain hazardous, like 16th Avenue South, where a broken seawall and exposed concrete and wood jutting out.
The City of Naples initially launched its beach restoration project after Hurricane Ian, but additional damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton forced officials to review their plans. The first phase of recovery involved cleaning all 35 accesses, replenishing washed-away sand, and removing debris.
“We've worked through the design, we’ve worked through what our permit requirements are going to be,” said Chad Merritt, Director of Parks, Recreation & Facilities for the City of Naples. “We've worked through any FEMA things that we're going to have to consider. And at this point, we will be putting that out to bid. We anticipate that happening this month.”
Once a contractor is selected, construction is expected to take about 10 months.
“We don't know how long it's going to take for benches and trash cans and bike racks to show up,” Merritt said. “But we hope that they will be able to complete this thing within ten months once they start. But you're talking about 32 beach accesses that they're going to have to work through.”
Merritt added that the contractor will work on two to four beach accesses at a time, making sure progress moves quickly while keeping enough areas open for the public to use.