After a long and winding road, construction is poised to start on a heavily engineered new boardwalk at Humiston Park that will replace the historic boardwalk cherished by generations of Island residents. Beach access at the park has been closed and contractors with Ferreira Construction have fenced off the dunes and the northern portion of the park and begun staging heavy equipment and materials in preparation for breaking ground on Nov. 1 on a nearly $3 million project to rebuild the 427-foot boardwalk that was destroyed by hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022. City council members and members of the public will gather at 4 p.m. that day in the northeast corner of Humiston Park. Mayor John Cotugno will speak, and council member John Carroll will introduce the members of the ad-hoc committee he has formed to raise the final $508,598 necessary to complete the project. “The committee has been hard at work, and they’ve done the yeoman’s job,” Carroll said. “Each of them has taken a task and completed it in a timely manner. Many of them are out soliciting and getting their friends to help us, too. It’s a community effort, which is what we always intended.” Committee members include Vicky Gould, chair; Morgan Reynolds, vice chair; along with Richard Giessert, Barbara Ruddy, Jeff Schlitt and Phil Barth. They meet every other Monday and will be on hand for the groundbreaking, Carroll said. Jeff Pickering, president and CEO of Indian River Community Foundation, will also speak. The foundation has been accepting donations on behalf of the city and helping donors with the necessary IRS paperwork. Refreshments will be served after closing remarks, Carroll said. “If Alma Lee Loy were here, she would say, ‘Yes! Let’s go for gold and get it done,’” Ruddy said. “I believe we have people here with big pockets who are ready to come forward. I’d like to see us raise this money before Nov. 1st. Wouldn’t that be great?” The committee also has created a tiered list of ways to honor those who donate to the project. Local businessman and philanthropist Tom Corr was one of the earliest to pledge money for the project. In recognition of his $100,000 donation, he gets to name the new 22-foot by 12-foot pavilion at the north end of the boardwalk. “Carol and Tom Corr are generous philanthropists who were among the first to step up and give to this important project,” Pickering said. “I hope more folks in town follow their lead by making their own meaningful contributions to help reach the goal.” The right to name the 42-foot by 12-foot pavilion erected at the south end of the boardwalk is still up for grabs to the first donor to pony up $250,000, Carroll said. Those who donate $25,000 will be recognized on plaques mounted on each of the four dune crossovers. A donation of $10,000 earns the donor an engraved brass plaque on one of 21 new benches on the boardwalk; 32 benches were saved from the old boardwalk for placement on the new one and those benches already have plaques recognizing the original donors, Carroll said. Finally, those who donate $1,100 will have their names engraved on one of 236 available Trex deck planks. The engraved message can have up to 28 characters, including spaces. Ruddy said she recently purchased her second deck plank and looks forward to seeing her name and her husband Michael’s name on the deck. “There is such a feeling of pride making a contribution to a community endeavor,” she said. The total cost of the project, including demolition of the old boardwalk, repairs to the remaining pavilion, engineering, permitting, design, construction and a 20 percent contingency fee, is $2,975,141. This figure does not include $850,000 worth of prestressed concrete that was donated by longtime area resident Clayton Sembler, owner of CDS Manufacturing, but does include $111,000 for shipping the concrete pilings to the project site. The city has budgeted $1 million for the boardwalk in its five-year capital improvement plan. Indian River County has committed $400,000, and the city has received a $460,230 reimbursement from FEMA for hurricane damages. The State of Florida kicked in another $350,000 in its 2025-2026 budget, for total funds of $2,210,230, leaving a difference of $764,911. Total donations as of Monday, Oct. 26, amount to $256,313, leaving an amount of $508,598 still to be raised. Carroll said he is confident that enough donations will come in soon to close that gap. Plans call for a mostly wooden structure atop prestressed concrete pillars, with timber framing and a deck made from Trex – a durable composite of recycled materials. There will be a 12-foot by 22-foot covered pavilion near the northern end of the boardwalk, with a 12-foot by 42-foot covered pavilion near the southern end, which will have a handicapped access ramp. Contractors plan to remove the remaining pavilion by Nov. 1, said Michael Mitts, the city’s public works director. Beach access will remain closed for the duration of the project, he said. After the groundbreaking, construction is expected to move quickly. Concrete pilings will be driven and the decking assembled beginning in early November, according to the city’s construction schedule. Construction of ramps and pavilions will commence in early December. Construction will be nearly complete when irrigation and vegetation go in during the first half of February. Completion is expected by the end of February, Mitts said. Sea turtle nesting season begins March 1. To donate to the project, visit www.RebuildHumiston.org. Donors can contribute online with a credit card, write a check, make a wire transfer, or a stock or bond transfer. Instructions are available on the website. For additional assistance, call Indian River Community Foundation at 772-492-1407. <em>Photos by Joshua Kodis</em> [gallery ids="237768,237769,237770,237771,237772,237773,237774"]