It’s been nearly three months since the city shut down the pier at Cole Park. Back on April 30, the city deemed it unsafe for public use because of aging infrastructure. Now, the Parks and Recreation Department says the pier will likely be closed for a long while.
That’s because the project has gone from repairing to rebuilding. When it was shut down, the city said there were severe cracks across the support structure of the pier. Another inspection revealed the extent of the damage.
“It really is a total rebuild. It is too far beyond repair ,” says Becky Perrin, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation.
Perrin says the project is estimated to cost around $1 million dollars, but it’s unclear where the department will get those funds.
“As far as a capital improvement plan, it’s on the list,” Perrin affirms. “But when we’ll see funding for that, we don’t know.”
Cole Park Pier has been a popular fishing spot for decades. It was dedicated in August of 1972. Lupe Ortiz, a fisherman from Portland, says he hasn’t frequented the pier in recent years but he knows how popular it is with families and visitors.
“What are they gonna do now? People don’t want to fish off the rocks. They want to go out to where the fish are,” Ortiz tells KRIS 6 News.
He adds, “If I wasn’t from here and I see a pier, i’d park there and go fish because… it’s lit at night and it’s pretty good fishing.”
For now, Perrin says Parks and Recreation is guiding people to other fishing spots around the city. They include the L Head and T Heads at Corpus Christi Marina, along with the barge dock across from the American Bank Center.
