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Ben Davis Beach in line for $250,000 infusion

FEMA approves the money for hurricane repairs to erosion on the beach and a battered concession stand.

By JANET ZINK
Published December 20, 2005

TAMPA - It may not be the region's most beautiful beach.

But with its location close to the airport, hotels and Tampa neighborhoods, Ben T. Davis Beach is popular among business travelers and locals who don't feel like trekking to the Gulf shore.

Ben T. Davis, though, suffered extensive damage during the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. It has been eroded in places, and the storm-battered concession stand and its restrooms have been closed for more than a year. Beachgoers have to make do with portable toilets.

But help is on the way.

FEMA last week told city officials that Tampa will get up to $118,516 to fix the concession stand and $127,027 to restore the beach. The money can be used for 90 percent of total repair costs.

If the city needs more cash, the Hillsborough County Tourist Development Council might help pick up the slack. The council has money in reserve for emergencies, says council member Bob Morrison, executive director of the Hillsborough County Hotel and Motel Association.

And this is an emergency.

"It needs some significant attention," Morrison said of the beach. "Rocky Point hotels are rightfully concerned because it's a marketing tool for our city that is not available to us at the current time."

He met with city officials last month to discuss possible planning and funding solutions to fix up the beach.

City officials are studying old aerial photographs to determine the dimensions of the beach before it was eroded. That will form the basis of a plan for getting it back in shape, said Linda Carlo, a spokeswoman for the Tampa Parks and Recreation Department.

The city doesn't yet know if it will fix the existing concession stand, which now has cracks in the walls and roof damage, or tear it down and build new. The FEMA money for beach repair should buy 2,680 cubic yards of sand, which will restore 800 linear feet of shoreline.

The city also will get from FEMA $148,218 for Cypress Point Park and $103,232 for Picnic Island, where hurricanes also caused erosion.

There's no timetable yet for the work at Ben T. Davis beach or an estimate on total costs. The beach, with its swim areas, picnic shelters and sand volleyball courts, attracts nearly 250,000 people a year, Carlo said.

"People in Tampa who don't want to drive all the way to the Pinellas beaches will stop at Ben T," Carlos said.

It's on the Tampa side of the Courtney Campbell Parkway, which in June was named one of the state's 13 scenic highways. The designation means the highway will be included in state marketing programs. It also makes the parkway eligible for federal grants for upkeep, picnic areas, and other amenities.

Earlier this year, the Florida Department of Transportation gave the cities of Clearwater and Tampa $150,000 each to landscape the bridge.

--Janet Zink can be reached at 813 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 20, 2005, 01:49:07]