It’s now official: Bob Hall Pier on North Padre Island will be torn down and completely rebuilt, decided Nueces County commissioners in a specially called meeting Dec. 18. The pier was damaged by Hurricane Hanna on July 25. Commissioners also voted to form a public ad hoc committee to oversee the project. 
“We’re going to have tons of opportunity for public input on this,” Commissioner Brent Chesney said. “It’s the community’s pier, not our pier.” 
Speaking during the public comments portion of the meeting in support of rebuilding the pier was Mayor-elect Paulette Guajardo.
“This is an iconic structure for Corpus Christi for tourism,” Guajardo said. “I am here to support your efforts today in rebuilding the pier. I’m here representing the city to say we are very much behind you in whatever you do. Hopefully, that’s rebuilding the pier.”
May Nardone, owner of Mikel May's, a restaurant and bar on the pier, also spoke, adding a request to serve on the ad hoc committee. 
“This decision directly impacts me and my business financially as well as the future of the 70 employees who are eager to return to their jobs at Mikel Mays,” Nardone said. “My recommendationis to rebuild rather than renovate — to rebuild one bigger, better building for the restaurant rather than the two we have.”
Nueces County leases space on the pier to Mikel May’s and collected about $120,000 a year in sales tax from the business in 2018. An extension to the restaurant, along with other improvements to the pier, was funded by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant. The service asked for the money back in 2018 because government funds cannot be used to aid a private business. 
In August 2019, the county reached a deal with the federal government to build a similar structure at I.B. Magee Park at Horace Caldwell Pier in exchange for the $750,000 owed. 
Hurricane Hanna destroyed the entire T-head at the end of the pier when it hit as a Category 1 storm last summer. Deck panels were yanked up and the entrance ramp and parking lot destroyed.
The new pier will be built at a higher elevation and might have a D-head shape rather than a T-head, according to a preliminary presentation by a representative from Jacobs Engineering Group, which was hired to inspect and report on the structure 
The entire cost of the project is expected to be between $15 million and $19 million and should be completed sometime in 2022. That price tag includes a new parking lot and concession stand. 
Repairing the 46-year-old pier would cost $9 million, but the final product would not last as long. A newly constructed pier would be built to withstand future storms and have an extended life expectancy. 
Although commissioners had hoped for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, County Judge Barbara Canales said the state damage threshold necessary to qualify for that money has not been met. They will continue to pursue FEMA and other means of funding.