Fact check: article states, "Chosen because of its ability to absorb cannonball fire, the porous coquina has not weathered well." In fact, coquina was a local material. I don't believe it was "chosen because of its ability to absorb cannonball fire," but it was a happy coincidence -- serendipity, right?"
Castillo de San Marcos' seawalls need help. National Park Service seeks public input
- The National Park Service is seeking public input on a project to repair and raise the seawalls at the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine, Florida.
- The project aims to address storm damage and improve the fort's resilience to future storms.
- Public comments are being accepted from June 9 to July 9, 2025.
The National Park Service is requesting public input for a proposed project to raise, repair and rehabilitate the seawalls surrounding St. Augustine's Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.
Funded by the 2023 Disaster Supplement Bill, the multimillion-dollar project aims to repair damage caused by storms while improving the fort’s resiliency to storm damage with minimal impact on the area's natural and cultural resources.
After conducting two public meetings in June and September 2024, the NPS is again inviting public comment on the project from June 9 to July 9.
Gordie Wilson, superintendent of Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, said the project will replace "critical, centuries-old infrastructure in a thoughtful and sensitive way."
"The priority is historic preservation and flood protection,” he said in a news release.
The project also will address the seawall’s structural integrity, including the consequences of its "aging, erosion, storm damage, and flooding."
Steven J. Roberts, director of interpretation, education and visitor service at the monument, told the St. Augustine Record last year that the existing seawall conditions ranged between poor and fair.
“By raising and repairing the seawalls, the project aims to protect the historic and cultural resources of the park, and aid in flood prevention for the City of St. Augustine and the historic downtown,” he wrote in an email.
The seawalls surrounding the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument are part of a larger system of seawalls that protect America’s oldest city. Like the ancient fortress, the seawalls are constructed of coquina: stone, limestone and sand-sized shell fragments quarried long ago from nearby Anastasia Island. Chosen because of its ability to absorb cannonball fire, the porous coquina has not weathered well.
According to the National Park Service, the Castillo de San Marcos measures 1,355 linear feet. The seawall consists of five sections: North, North Transition, Center, South and South Transition. Each section will require a different rehabilitation solution because they were constructed at different times with different materials and methods, and they vary in their degrees of deterioration.
Starting on June 9, the public can review and comment on the environmental assessment, which includes three alternatives plus an analysis on resource impacts. The public can also share input at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/seawall.
Comments may also be mailed to Superintendent Gordie Wilson, Raise and Rehabilitate Seawall Project, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, 1 South Castillo Drive, St. Augustine, FL 32084.
1 comment:
In the long run they'll have to completely enclose the structure where it can't be seen to simply preserve it... because of sea level rise. People will have to take a boat and look down into the structure. Cost for something like this is billions. People will just have to learn to dive if they want to see the structure centuries from now.
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