Ferry Park repairs near completion

Northwest Florida Daily News (Fort Walton Beach)

April 16--FORT WALTON BEACH -- Devoted disc golf players Darryk Lazaro and Chris Chapman have been able to keep regular tabs on the condition of Ferry Park, which was heavily damaged last summer by a tornado.

The two Okaloosa Technical College students from Crestview recently spent another one of their lunch breaks playing the game they love at the 22-acre park's 18-hole disc golf course.

"We've come here about every day for the last five months," Lazaro said.

He and Chapman said that during that stretch of time, they have seen crews clearing away storm-damaged trees, fencing, light poles and other debris, including numerous loads of weeds and brush.

And they said they see lots of families enjoying the park at 240 Hughes St NE.

During Lazaro's and Chapman's visit to the park on a recent morning, two women peered down from a bridge at several large turtles in the park's creek. A man shot hoops at the nearby basketball court, two couples pushed baby strollers on winding paths and a city worker drove a riding lawn mower over tall grass.

The June 21 tornado caused almost $230,000 in destruction to Ferry Park. City Manager Michael Beedie has said that that total represents the most amount of storm damage that has occurred to a Fort Walton Beach park since he began working for the city in 2005.

As of early April, the city had spent a little more than $100,000 on park repairs, replacements and renovations.

The removal of trees and other vegetation has perhaps been one of the most noticeable major changes to the recreation area.

"Everything we cleared out was damaged by the storm," city Recreation and Cultural Services Director Jeff Peters said April 10. "We lifted up canopies that were overhanging and trimmed some dead limbs. And we cleaned the ditch line along the creek running up to Lake Earl. We clean that up once a year."

Other initial storm cleanup tasks at the park included the removal of storm-damaged dugouts, fencing and wooden light poles. In addition, the park received new bleachers and basketball goals and upgraded pavilions, and a grading plan was completed for what will be a 200-by-500-foot multi-purpose athletic field.

The remaining $125,000 or so worth of work could be completed by contractors and city workers by late July, Peters said.

The remaining tasks include: the installation of six concrete light poles with new light fixtures; grading work; installation of irrigation lines, a pump and electrical conduit; placement of vinyl-coated fencing around the reworked field; and the planting of Bermuda grass on the field.

The park's two baseball/softball fields will become part of the grassy multi-purpose area, which will host soccer games and practices, football practices and other sporting events. Baseball and softball games still will be able to be played there, but the new field will not have dirt infields.

"We're shooting for the end of July" to finish the remaining tasks, "and then it will take about six weeks for the grass to grow, so it should be ready for our fall sports," Peters said. "Ferry Park is one of our most popular parks. We want to do it right the first time. When it's done, it will be really nice for the community."

He listed several reasons behind the lengthy process of getting the park back into shape.

For example, "It probably took us three or four month to find out from the insurance company what would be reimbursed," Peters said.

He said the insurance company will reimburse the city for about 80 percent of the overall cost of damages.

"A lot of (park elements) were built in the 1970s and '80s, so depreciation got us a little bit on the insurance" reimbursement, he said.

Besides dealing with those matters, city officials have had to put many of the repair/renovation tasks out to bid, and the staff-recommended contractors have required the approval of the City Council before they can start working, Peters said.

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