City of Long Beach receives grants to fix harbor damaged in storm

Three years after the Long Beach Harbor was destroyed by Hurricane Zeta, the city has received money to move forward with restoring it.

The city was awarded a combined $6.6 million from the state this year to make repairs to the harbor. It includes money from the Restore Act, Tidelands Trust Fund, and GOMESA Funding.

This is on top of the approved city project for $2.3 million to update the eastern outer wall. The city will be removing the rock jetty on the wall and adding a concrete wall around the harbor.

As another hurricane season looms, the piers will not be fixed using this money. City leaders are still hoping FEMA will help fund the pier restoration.

Alderman Donald Frazier tells News 25 the city is focusing on a good foundation first. “If you think of this as building a house, this is the slab or the bottom floor. You can’t build the second floor or you can’t start framing until you have your foundation in place and that’s what we’re doing.”

There is no an official start date for the project, but Frazier told News 25 it should be soon.