CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A popular RV park in Port Aransas forced to close by Hurricane Harvey will not open in time for Spring Break.
County Commissioner Brent Chesney says the IB Magee Beach RV Park rebuild project is now expected to be completed later this summer three years after the hurricane severely damaged it. County and park officials hoped to have it re-opened in time for Spring Break. The closure has cost the County about a million dollars a year in gross revenue. Chesney says enhancements done at Padre Balli Park, an RV park in Corpus Christi has helped offset the deficit.
"So Padre Balli has made that up but if we can get IB Magee open which has been a big priority for us from the beginning then that'll just be another revenue source from the county that we can have that won't include property tax increases, hopefully," said Chesney.
After hitting several bumps trying to get the project funded and hiring a construction firm, the County broke ground in November. The original project cost of $3.7 million has increased to $3.9 million after commissioners recently approved upgrades to the park. Commissioner Chesney says construction is about 40 to 45 percent complete.
"The old park was old and it needed some upgrades, and it allows us to charge more if we have better services and better facilities," said Chesney,"And so we're working on that, and so that'll take a while to do... it's gonna be a nice situation."
The park building will need to be rebuilt as well. Commissioner Chesney says there is an ongoing battle with their insurance company to cover the costs of that project.
"But that's not crucial to the RV site opening, but we definitely want to get that going as well [because] that's a very important part of that as well," added Chesney.
The commissioner says getting the property up and running again as quickly as possible isn't just about adding money to the County's purse.
"The most important thing is getting that back open for the City of Port Aransas as well [because] that would be a very big emotional lift for them as well."
