FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. – The iconic Flagler Beach pier will remain closed, city leaders have decided, after Hurricane Ian caused roughly $2 million in damage to the landmark.
While commissioners said the restaurant and other businesses toward the dunes will be allowed to stay open for now, the city will move ahead with a project — already in the works ahead of Ian’s landfall — to replace the wooden structure with a new concrete pier.
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“Three years from where we’re at now for a finished product is certainly a realistic target to shoot for and we’re going to do everything we can on the design and permitting side to accelerate that schedule,” said Gabriel Perdomo, of Moffatt & Nichol.
Currently, the pier is closed for activities like fishing, and city leaders said Thursday night that the structure is just too dangerous to be on right now.
Part of the pier collapsed into the ocean during Hurricane Ian. City leaders had voted in 2021 to replace the pier with an 800-foot concrete contemporary following damage from other storms such as Hurricane Matthew, which took a 163-foot chunk of the structure with it in 2016.
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