Local

Half of Jacksonville Beach pier set to open in spring

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — The Jacksonville Beach Pier is set to partially reopen in April.

The Pier has been closed since Hurricane Matthew in 2016, because of damage suffered from the storm. The City amended its contract with Dania Pier Management at that time, halting any lease payments, pending the reopening of the Pier.

A new contract amendment has now been filed for consideration by the Jacksonville City Council, which shows that half of the Pier is currently slated to reopen in April.

Dania estimates revenue will be down 80% until the Pier is completely reopened, because they won’t have the large “T” area at the end and fishing will be limited because there’s no water under the Pier in low tide, according to the City documents.

To reflect that, the contract amendment would have Dania pay only 20% of their lease value- or $1,100 per month- from the time that half the Pier opens to the point when it’s fully restored.

Once the Pier has fully reopened, Dania’s full contract payment would resume- $5,500 per month. The contract continues through October 1, 2020.

There’s no timeline at this point for how long it would take to open the full Pier.

Read more from NEWS 104.5 WOKV.