Five damaged wooden docks at the Corpus Christi Marina will be replaced with concrete floating docks. The out-of-service docks represent one third of the marina’s capacity. Courtesy photo
Corpus Christi council approves $14 million for marina improvements
Construction on five new concrete floating docks at the Corpus Christi Marina is expected to begin in the next 60 days. The Corpus Christi City Council approved spending $14 million to replace Docks A, B, C, D, and L at its regular meeting Tuesday, April 27.
Mayor Paulette M. Guajardo called it a “monumental day for our marina.”
The docks represent one-third of the marina’s 629 boat slips and have cost the city boat business and revenue, City Manager Peter Zanoni said.
Dock L will have 45 new slips built to accommodate boats from 30 feet to 55 feet long. The remaining four docks will house up to 162 boats from 25 feet to 45 feet long.
All of these docks, which were built of wood in the 1990s, outlived their life expectancy and were fatally damaged by Hurricane Hanna last summer, Zanoni said. The new docks should last 40-50 years and will be updated with plumbing and electrical cables.
The new docks could bring in $634,000 a year in revenue, up from the current $511,000 received in 2020.
“We know that a lot of the T Heads and the L Head used to be prime locations for families to go,” Zanoni told the council. “Over the years, it’s just kind of dwindled and dwindled away from being a hot spot or destination. We want to bring that back.”
The city announced a renewed commitment to upgrading the marina in December 2020 when it hired a new marina manager. Jonathan Atwood said Corpus Christi Marina has the potential to be a world-class facility. He made rebuilding the docks a top priority.
