CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The fate of 40-year-old Bob Hall Pier has officially been decided. According to Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales, engineers have concluded that the pier must be rebuilt.
Back in September, officials said the cost of the damages to the pier was estimated at $19 million. Canales said plans for the rebuild will be released in the coming months.
"Our engineers believe that is in the best interest that we have a new pier so that's what we've submitted to the state and the state submits that to the feds and we think that's the best course of action," Canales said.
Back in late July, Hurricane Hanna ended up damaging Bob Hall Pier, tearing the end of the pier off and caused enough damage to now be declared a total loss.
Now that the county is set to rebuild it, Canales believes that the federal government will pick up 75-percent of the tab. Because our county was part of a Federal Disaster Declaration, FEMA funds can be used to replace all the damage done by Hurricane Harvey, too.
Canales said she feels it's going to take a total of nearly $20 million to build a new pier and replace everything else around it that was destroyed.
Canales said she will be speaking with commissioners court about how to find the $5 million to fund the county's portion of this project, but that she already believes she has identified funding sources.