Former mayor Tony Young once called the old Humiston walkway "part of the fabric of Vero Beach," as Vero Beach 32963 reported this August. Restoring it comes with a cost, and the most visible part of that cost begins on November 1. At a city council meeting this summer, Public Works Director Matthew Mitts said the beach at Humiston will be closed during construction. The playground will stay open.
The closure runs from early November to the March 1 start of sea turtle nesting season. That is what it costs to get back the 427-foot boardwalk Hurricane Nicole wrecked in November 2022. In 2024 City Council approved a cheaper, more storm-resistant sidewalk instead, and after a community outcry, council reversed course in January 2025 and voted to rebuild the boardwalk.
The Sidewalk That Almost Replaced It
The timeline below comes from Vero Beach 32963's August account and city records.
- 1930s. The first boardwalk goes up in wood. A concrete version later replaces it.
- November 2022. Hurricane Nicole destroys it. The pavilion survives as a remnant.
- January 2024. The wreckage finally comes down, more than a year after the storm.
- Summer 2024. Council votes for a sidewalk set back slightly from the beach, priced at a modest $800,000 and more resistant to storm damage. First comes community disappointment, then an outcry.
- December 2024. Councilmembers John Carroll and Aaron Vos float a rebuild-the-boardwalk fund, and donations surge.
- January 2025. With $175,000 pledged and the Sembler family promising construction materials, council votes unanimously to drop the sidewalk and rebuild the boardwalk. The estimate is $2.2 million, with work to start November 2025.
- Autumn 2025. Revised estimates climb to $4.7 million or more. Work does not start that November.
- August 2026. Seven bids come in, and three of them are under half the latest estimate.
The full boardwalk was always going to need a construction season on the sand. Council's January 2025 vote for the structure generations of residents grew up with also set up a winter like this one.
What Ferreira Is Building
On August 25, 2026, the Vero Beach City Council voted 5–0 to award the construction contract to Ferreira Construction of Hobe Sound, the responsive low bidder, for $1,767,109.77. According to the city's minutes, staff recommended the bid option with a plain stainless-steel handrail because it costs less and needs less maintenance. Council approved the award on that basis. The decorative railing was the alternative. It would not have added much: the bids show about $73,000 between Ferreira's two versions.
The new structure will not copy the concrete walkway that failed. Timber framing sits on prestressed concrete pilings, topped with a Trex deck made from recycled composite. There is a 12-by-22-foot covered pavilion near the north end and a 12-by-42-foot covered pavilion near the south end, which has the accessible ramp.
Clayton Sembler of CDS Manufacturing is donating the pilings. His family's roots in Indian River County go back more than 120 years, and the pilings are valued at about $850,000. City Manager Monte Falls told council that CDS would fabricate the pieces, a trucking company would deliver them, and ownership would pass from CDS to Ferreira on site. The foundation of the new boardwalk is a gift from a local family.
A Window Set by Turtles at Both Ends
Sea turtles set the schedule. The original November 2025 start was picked because nesting season had ended. The new deadline comes from the next season starting. Mitts told council the contract runs 110 calendar days and that Ferreira has to be off the beach by March 1. Any beach work after that needs day-to-day permission from inspectors. Kimley-Horn, which designed and permitted the project, will also monitor turtle nesting and handle engineering inspections for the rest of the job, according to Vero News.
Starting November 1 and adding 110 days lands in late February, so the schedule has very little slack. Here are the dates that matter to Central Beach this winter:
- Before November 1. Construction fencing goes up around the grass area northeast of the park. Materials are delivered and staged there so crews can start right away.
- Sunday, November 1, 4 p.m. Groundbreaking ceremony. The boardwalk committee voted unanimously for this date and time. They plan a tent in the park, a display of the engraved boards and plaques, and remarks from Jeff Pickering of the Indian River Community Foundation.
- November 1. Planned construction start. Mitts confirmed it to Vero News on October 1.
- November through February. Beach closed. Playground open.
- March 1. Next year's turtle nesting season begins, and the contractor is due off the sand.
As of mid-October, nothing published confirms a notice to proceed or that work has started. November 1 is still the plan, and the city has said it will tell residents about closures ahead of time.
Where the Swim Moves
Humiston normally has a lifeguard, parking, restrooms, a pavilion and a playground, according to the city's facility page. With the sand closed, the city's other guarded beaches pick up the load. Three of the aquatic areas on the city's beach map are oceanfront beaches: Jaycee Beach, Humiston Beach and South Beach.
Jaycee Beach Park is north of Humiston. The city lists lifeguards on site, accessible beach access, parking, a pavilion and picnic area, a playground, restrooms and water. Its access points reopened in December 2025 during the county's Sector 5 renourishment project, as Vero News reported.
South Beach Park is to the south. The city lists lifeguards on site, accessible beach access, parking, restrooms, water, picnic facilities, a grill and a food vendor.
Neither city page shows a date, and current winter lifeguard hours were not published in what we reviewed. Families planning a guarded swim should check with the city's lifeguard staff before heading out.
Ocean Drive Keeps Its Evenings
The beach closure stops at the sand. The Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce and GHO Homes have scheduled the free Sunset Saturdays concerts on Ocean Drive by Humiston Park, 5 to 8 p.m. on second Saturdays. Four of them fall inside the construction window: November 14, December 12, January 9 and February 13. The series announcement mentions no change of venue, and no adjustment has been reported. The March 13 concert would be the first one after the deadline, and if the schedule holds, the new pavilions will be in the background.
The Part Still Unfunded
In August the low bids made the project look fully funded, with room to spare. By October 1, Vero News reported that costs outside Ferreira's contract had put it back in the red. Those included demolition, design, inspections, shipping and a contingency.
Project costs | Amount |
|---|---|
Ferreira Construction contract | $1,767,109 |
Earlier demolition and temporary repairs | about $125,000 |
Kimley-Horn permitting and design | $280,625 |
Kimley-Horn construction phase services | $337,577 |
Shipping for donated pilings | $111,000 |
Contingency, about 20 percent of contract | $353,422 |
Reported total | $2,975,141 |
Funding in hand | Amount |
|---|---|
City capital improvement plan | $1,000,000 |
Indian River County | $400,000 |
FEMA storm reimbursement | $460,230 |
State of Florida, 2025–2026 budget | $350,000 |
Community fund, cash and pledges | $145,713 cash, $160,000 pledged |
Reported total available | $2,515,953 |
The funding items as listed add to $2,515,943, ten dollars under the total Vero News reported. Either way, that leaves a gap of about $460,000. Another $400,000 was on its way in the state's 2026–2027 budget until a veto shortly before the budget was signed on June 29, and Mitts said he knew of no other grants. The city has enough to begin basic construction. The contingency alone is about 20 percent of the construction contract, and Mitts said the budget will be adjusted if the unexpected costs come in lower.
The community-funded part of this project will be visible on the boardwalk itself. At its October 5 meeting, the boardwalk committee approved a campaign flyer with a working QR code. Mitts showed what an engraved plank will look like, and members talked through how donor names will go on bench plaques and a Founders Plaque. The city's legal department has approved the flyer, and it now goes to the Indian River Community Foundation for approval. Carroll told the committee that people are excited to see the project move forward and want to keep taking part.
Donors to the rebuild fund will see their names engraved on the new planks, and the boardwalk is scheduled to have them in place when the beach reopens in March.
At O'Dare Boga Dobson Group, we have watched Humiston go from wreckage to a funded contract, and we will keep following it plank by plank until the beach reopens. If you'd like to talk about what Ocean Drive's landmarks mean to the neighborhood around them, Work With Us.