Challenges delay repairs, reopening Fernandina Marina Harbor

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Fernandina Harbor Marina is almost empty.

Atlantic Seafood employee Kelly Pratt remembers the area differently.

“We were roughly seeing about 400 people a day pass through here using the boat ramp," he recalled.

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Pictures and a rendering show what the marina looked like in 2016, before Hurricane Matthew.

Action News Jax surveyed the devastation at the docks in the days following the storm.

“Something we grew up with here. I mean I’ve lived here 23 years and to see the docks being broken and no one being able to use them and whatnot hurting us and everyone else,” Pratt explained.

The marina has been closed for nearly three years.

City Manager Dale Martin said Monday the goal was to have repairs completed by the end of the summer, but that’s not going to happen.

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He now projects the docks will be open and operational by the end of 2019.

“It's just taken a lot longer and a lot more money than people had hoped," he told Action News Jax.”

According to Martin, docks are demolished, the permits are in place and they’re finishing dredging before installing new docks.

'“We still have plenty of tourism around that’s not necessarily boat related. But, this definitely adds to their bottom line and I’m sure there has been some substantial impacts,” Martin admitted.

Pratt said he’s looking forward to business booming when the marina reopens.

“Hopefully we’ll see a little bit better of a dock system out there where we’ll get a little bit more people in here,” he said.

According to Martin, the city has stayed within the original $10 million budget.

Cox Media Group