TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Almost two years after Hurricane Irma, Brevard County parks are still working on repairing their parks damaged by the storm.

But county officials told Spectrum News 13 that it’s not an easy task, and more work needs to be done.

  • County approves $12M to make park repairs while waiting on FEMA
  • Space View Park 1 of 5 parks needing extra layers of permitting 
  • Seagrass study needs to be conducted before repairing boardwalk

Brevard County Communication Director Don Walker says a $12 million loan was approved by the Board of County Commissioners from the risk management department to make all the park repairs while they wait on FEMA.

“Money would come from FEMA. In the meantime, we’re using the money from in-house. We are taking a loan from the money we have,” Walker explained.

Out of 21 parks needing refurbishment, five parks, like Space View Park in Titusville, are the last on the list because the repairs needed to go through extra layers of permitting.

For the waterfront Space View Park, Walker explained that to follow code, they needed to do a seagrass study before designing or repairing the boardwalk and dock.

But seagrass only grows certain times a year, which is why it took a little longer to get the ball rolling.

“Space View Park being one of then, of all the parks that were damaged, we got to do dock replacement, sea wall repair, shore line repair. There’s a lot that needs to be done, so we are in the permitting phase. That project could be $3 million,” Walker said.

Sandra Manzieri says this is her second time visiting Space View Park, because her son is in space camp. Although she says the park looks better than last year, it still looks abandoned.

There are fences warning visitors to stay back, because it's unsafe to proceed due to damage done by Hurricane Irma.

“It's totally destroyed, wow. You have this pristine property right here. It could be beautiful,” Manzieri said. “I was very disappointed. I wanted to bring my son here, but I won't because he would be disappointed too,”

Knowing repairs are in the works, Manzieri says she will be back next year to bring her son to space camp. She’s looking forward to seeing Space View Park open for business.​