How much of Humiston Park you lose this winter depends on which week you walk down Ocean Drive. The City of Vero Beach has given the boardwalk rebuild's beach work one window. That window opened when sea turtle nesting season ended on Oct. 31, and the job has to be finished before the next nesting season starts in March. The beach-side phases have been fitted into that gap. The heaviest work happens on the sand first, and the railings, lights and dune plants come last.
If you read the schedule that way, the next four months get easier to plan around.
Why beach work started the moment nesting season ended
Hurricanes Ian and Nicole destroyed the old boardwalk in 2022. Since then the city has spent about $125,000 tearing most of it down and making temporary repairs to the pavilion and beach access that were left. Vero Beach 32963 reported that figure in its Oct. 1 story on the project budget. A boardwalk has stood at this spot since the 1930s, according to the Rebuild Humiston campaign.
In August the city awarded the construction contract to Ferreira Construction of Hobe Sound for $1,767,109.77. Seven companies bid, and Ferreira's was the lowest. Public Works Director Matthew Mitts sent City Council an update memo dated Oct. 7. It shows how closely the job follows the nesting calendar. Crews moved equipment in the week of Oct. 19. They fenced the construction area and did their early demolition landward of the dune, because the beach itself stayed off-limits to construction until Oct. 31. Kimley-Horn, the engineering firm that designed and permitted the boardwalk, is also watching for turtle nesting activity for as long as the project runs.
The fundraising committee held its groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 4 p.m., the first day the beach was open to work. Clayton Sembler of CDS Manufacturing donated the prestressed concrete pilings for the new boardwalk, valued at $850,000. The city is paying about $111,000 to ship them.
The winter, phase by phase
The task list attached to the Oct. 7 memo dates every step from now through February. These are the phases a beachgoer will see and hear.
Dates | What crews are scheduled to do | What it means at the park |
|---|---|---|
Nov. 2 to 4 | Pull 44 old piles, set up templates | The last of the old structure comes out |
Nov. 5 to Dec. 2 | Drive 36 bent piles for the boardwalk, with a Thanksgiving break Nov. 26 and 27 | The loudest stretch of the project |
Dec. 3 to 24 | Excavate and grade the dune on Dec. 3 and 4, then drive 32 piles for the dune crossings | Work moves from the boardwalk line to the beach crossovers |
Dec. 7 to 25 | Set 43 timber piles and build the ADA ramp | Accessible entry starts to take shape |
Dec. 25 to Jan. 1 | Holiday break | A quiet week |
Jan. 4 to Feb. 4 | Set precast caps, pour the deck on Jan. 25 and 26, cure and strip it | The boardwalk surface goes in |
Jan. 5 to Feb. 1 | Piles and framing for the two pavilions and the access ramps | The park-side structures rise |
Feb. 5 to 15 | Aluminum railings, post-and-rope, lighting, a state and wildlife agency inspection, dune plantings | Finishing work |
Feb. 15 to 19 | Fencing and erosion controls come down, staging area is re-sodded, final task on Friday, Feb. 19 | The construction site is cleared |
Mitts's memo says, "Pile driving work will occur during the month of November." The attached schedule finishes the last six boardwalk piles from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, and pile work for the dune crossings follows into late December. If you usually walk at Humiston in the morning, November and the first weeks of December are the stretch to plan around. By January the work has moved to deck pours and pavilion framing. Those sound more like an ordinary construction site than a pile hammer.
The schedule also has some built-in cushion. The city added a $353,422 contingency to the budget, roughly 20 percent of Ferreira's contract. Council member John Carroll explained why in Vero Beach 32963's report:
"There have been a number of different structures in that location over the years, and it wouldn't be surprising to run into some pipes, old sections of seawall, or other debris during construction."
Whatever crews find under the sand, the March nesting season stays fixed. Feb. 19 is a target set about two weeks ahead of that deadline, and any slack in the schedule has to come out of those two weeks.
How much of the beach is behind the fence
Public notices describe the closure in two different ways. The Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce events calendar lists "Humiston Beach Closed" from Monday, Oct. 19, "Through Mid-February." The city's memo describes a fenced construction area. Mitts also told Vero Beach 32963 that the beach and parts of the park may close temporarily at various times for safety. Both descriptions point to the same mid-February end date. Day to day, though, conditions will change with each phase. The city posted signs around the park on Oct. 16. Its Humiston Beach Boardwalk project page is the place to check before you go.
If you usually spend a full beach day at Humiston, two other city parks on the island have the same basic setup. The city's facility listings show lifeguards on site, parking, restrooms, water, a food vendor, picnic shelters and ADA access at both:
- Jaycee Beach Park, north on Ocean Drive. It also has a pavilion, grills and a playground.
- South Beach Park, south of Humiston. It has grills and picnic areas but no playground on its list.
Lifeguard hours change with the season, so check with the city before a weekday swim at either park.
The part of the bill neighbors are covering
Vero Beach 32963 put the project's total cost at $2,975,141. That includes permitting and design, construction-phase engineering and inspection, shipping for the pilings, and the contingency. The funding committed so far comes from several places:
- $1 million from the city's five-year capital improvement plan
- $400,000 from Indian River County
- $460,230 from FEMA for the 2022 storm damage
- $350,000 from the state's 2025-2026 budget
- $145,713 in cash and $160,000 in pledges from a community campaign run by the Indian River Community Foundation
The paper reported $2,515,953 available, which leaves a gap of about $460,000. The city had expected another $400,000 from the state's 2026-2027 budget. That line was vetoed before the budget was signed on June 29. Carroll's citizen committee is working to raise another $500,000. Mitts told the paper the money on hand already covers the basic construction, so the work going on now does not depend on closing the gap.
The donor recognition tiers tell you what the finished boardwalk will look like:
- 236 Trex deck planks, engraved for a $1,100 gift each
- 21 new benches with brass plaques for $10,000 each. These join 32 benches saved from the old boardwalk, which keep their original donors' plaques.
- Four dune crossovers to the beach, each with two plaques recognizing $25,000 donors
- Two pavilions: a 22-by-12-foot pavilion at the north end, with $100,000 naming rights, and a 42-by-12-foot pavilion at the south end, with $250,000 naming rights
- A founders plaque at the main entrance for gifts of $5,000 or more
Gifts go through the Rebuild Humiston page, which takes card donations online. The Indian River Community Foundation's giving instructions cover checks, which should be made payable to the Foundation with "Humiston Boardwalk Fund" in the memo line. To have a plank or bench engraved, download the donor recognition form from the campaign page and email it to [email protected]. According to the January schedule, the deck is poured on Jan. 25 and 26, and the railings go on in early February. That is when the planks start to look like a finished walkway.
Dec. 5, when Ocean Drive fills up anyway
The busiest night of the year near the work zone falls in the middle of the dune-crossing phase. Sunrise Rotary's Vero Beach Christmas Parade steps off around 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. According to Hometown News, the route starts near Cardinal Drive, runs east on Flamevine Lane, turns north on Ocean Drive and ends at Jaycee Park. The Indian River Guardian confirmed the date and route on Oct. 27. By that Saturday the schedule has the dune excavation finished and the dune-crossing piles underway, so the parade will pass a fenced site. When the parade comes back up Ocean Drive next December, the plan calls for a finished boardwalk with new pavilions at both ends.
If the Humiston work is changing how you think about life near Ocean Drive, or about the parts of the island where daily routines happen on foot, The Sutcliffe Group can walk you through what the barrier island looks like block by block. Schedule a consultation.
