Daytona Beach Pier repair bill climbs past $1.5 million

Eileen Zaffiro-Kean, The Daytona Beach News-Journal
·4 min read

DAYTONA BEACH — City officials knew repairing the storm-battered Daytona Beach Pier wasn't going to be cheap after tropical storms Ian and Nicole took turns beating up the wooden span last fall.

At the beginning of this year, the running tab on repairs was $684,000. Now city commissioners are being asked to spend another $877,932 to mend the nearly 100-year-old pier jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean.

If at their meeting Wednesday night city commissioners approve more than doubling what they've spent so far, that will bring the total expenditure to $1.56 million – assuming the cost to put the pier back together doesn't climb higher.

The nearly 100-year-old Daytona Beach Pier suffered heavy damage from Tropical Storms Ian and Nicole. The eastern tip of the pier used by fishermen was decimated, and the substructure of the pier under the Joe's Crab Shack restaurant is also in need of repairs and stabilization.
The nearly 100-year-old Daytona Beach Pier suffered heavy damage from Tropical Storms Ian and Nicole. The eastern tip of the pier used by fishermen was decimated, and the substructure of the pier under the Joe's Crab Shack restaurant is also in need of repairs and stabilization.

Commissioners will also vote Wednesday on the construction of a large new residential development just west of Interstate 95 and the expansion of the DME Sports Academy campus off of Bellevue Avenue. Scroll down for more on both of those items.

Portions of the iconic pier were pummeled first by Tropical Storm Ian at the end of September, and then again in early November by Tropical Storm Nicole. As the pair of storms tore through the area, 16 of the pier's pilings were swept away, cross braces and joists snapped, and decking splintered.

The easternmost end of the pier where people fish was shredded and will require extensive repairs. That fishing section of the pier has been closed since the storms hit and will remain closed for at least a few more months.

Critical support structures under the southeast corner of the Joe's Crab Shack building were also damaged, although the restaurant only closed for a few days after Nicole blew through Volusia County.

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The city hired Orlando-based Construct Co., Inc., to tackle the repairs, the same company that handled work on the pier at the eastern tip of Main Street in 2021 and 2022.

Restoration work began in the fall and is still months away from completion.

Morning beach walkers are pictured in early January strolling past the storm-damaged Daytona Beach Pier.
Morning beach walkers are pictured in early January strolling past the storm-damaged Daytona Beach Pier.

If approved, the $877,932 being requested will cover the replacement of additional pilings, cap beams, and cross bracing that was damaged by Nicole. The money will also go toward tightening structural connection hardware under Joe's Crab Shack that loosened during the pair of tropical storms and rebuilding the east end of the pier.

The city hopes to eventually be reimbursed for its pier repair expenses by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The pier has been repaired repeatedly over the past 15 years, including one major overhaul that was completed about 10 years ago. Over the past few decades, city leaders have also occasionally discussed building a new pier, an idea being explored again.

Large Daytona residential development proposed

At their meeting Wednesday night, Daytona city commissioners are slated to take a final vote on a rezoning request for a big housing and commercial development planned for 415 acres just west of Interstate 95.

A developer is hoping to rezone the large swath of property between I-95 and Tomoka Farms Road from Volusia County Rural Agriculture to City Planned Development-General.

The developer wants to allow for a mixed-use development to include 1,660 residential units of multifamily, single-family detached and single-family attached housing as well as 340,000 square feet of non-residential uses including commercial, institutional and light industrial uses.

DME Sports Academy hoping to expand

DME Sports Academy is looking to grow on its campus south of Daytona Beach International Airport and is requesting a rezoning on 3.8 acres that's part of 17.5 acres DME wants to develop.

The Daytona Beach sports training center wants to increase the total number of student housing units from 164 to 324 and allow for the development of additional academic and sports training facilities.

Mike Panaggio, owner of DME Academy at 2441 Bellevue Ave. in Daytona Beach, stands on one of the sports training facility's soccer fields as his new neighbor, a five-story Amazon robotics fulfillment center under construction, looms behind him on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022.
Mike Panaggio, owner of DME Academy at 2441 Bellevue Ave. in Daytona Beach, stands on one of the sports training facility's soccer fields as his new neighbor, a five-story Amazon robotics fulfillment center under construction, looms behind him on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022.

The request is to rezone the property from Volusia County Rural Agriculture/Activity Center with Airport Overlay to city of Daytona Beach Planned Development-General.

DME is also hoping to add a stormwater retention pond and possibly industrial, medical and office uses on about 13 acres of its property along Bellevue Avenue east of Williamson Boulevard.

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach's iconic pier is poised to get $1.56 million in repairs