- December 6, 2025
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The recently awarded bids for boardwalk replacements at Joan M. Durante Park and Quick Point Nature Preserve were a pleasant surprise for Longboat Key’s Public Works and Finance Department.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton damaged the town’s public parks and recreation facilities significantly, and early estimates put the replacement costs around $2 million combined. Quick Point, Durante Park, the police-used boat lift on Broadway Street and the public dock at Linley Street remain closed because of the damage.
Original estimates were $1.2 million for Quick Point Park and $652,602 for Durante Park. The projects include boardwalk replacements of 5,210 square feet and 5,193 square feet, respectively.
The town received those estimates in January, but the lowest bids for those projects were closer to $370,000 for Quick Point and $329,000 for Durante Park.
Parks & Recreation Manager Mark Richardson said its materials were more expensive a couple of months ago, and the contractors’ time was more scarce and priced higher, but he didn’t know for sure what the reason was behind the lower bids.
Sully’s LLC, a Southwest Florida-based firm that specializes in residential, commercial, and marine construction, received the bid for both projects.
During the pre-award meeting, Richardson said he ensured the firm could complete the project for the lower amount, to which the firm agreed.
“They should be getting us a schedule sometime soon to say how long it’s going to take and when they expect to start,” Richardson said.
Original estimates said construction would last three to four months. Richardson said the replacements will be complete by the end of the year, and he hopes they will be ready for next season so season residents and tourists can enjoy the parks.
Both parks’ new boardwalks are composite materials, a change that started a little over a year ago in Durante Park when most of the park’s boardwalks were replaced for $150,000.
Quick Point’s boardwalks were wood when the hurricane damage occurred.
New composite material will be waterproof, more durable and last longer, which will benefit the parks in the long run.
The other hurricane-related projects still needed for the town’s parks and recreation facilities are the boat dock replacements at Broadway Street and Linley Street.
Both projects are complete re-dos, according to Richardson. The year-old boat lift at Broadway Street, used solely by the Longboat Key Police Department, was salvageable, but the estimated dock cost $301,235.
“The engineer recommended removing the pilings it’s on, so that’ll be a complete re-do as well, other than the boat lift materials,” Richardson said.
Not far from the Broadway Street dock is the public dock and boat ramp at Linley Street. Richardson said the estimates for that project, another complete re-do, are around $444,136.
Bids for the two dock projects are due June 13, and Richardson said he assumes Sully’s will put in bids.
The four projects made up 98.7% of the Parks & Recreation Fund capital expenditures for fiscal year 2026. That was before the new, lower bids, though, when the combined total was $2,639,946 million.
All the projects are necessary because of damage sustained during Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The projects, then, are eligible for reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Through FEMA’s Category G claims, which include parks and recreation facilities, eligible projects could receive 75 to 100% reimbursement.
The town also hopes to receive insurance money to help pay for these projects.
