MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — The city of Madeira Beach is still working to restore a beachfront park that was destroyed by Hurricane Helene in 2024.
What You Need To Know
Public works says it is planning to make Tom and Kitty Stuart Park look like it did right before Helene, except for an upgraded restroom.
But some residents and a local business owner say it will look more like a parking lot, which violates the agreement from the donors.
It will likely be at least six months before Tom and Kitty Stuart Park fully reopens.
Public Works says it is planning to make Tom and Kitty Stuart Park look like it did right before the hurricane, expect for an upgraded restroom.
But a few residents and a local business owner say it will look more like a parking lot, which violates the agreement from the donors.
Resident Kris Digiovanni, who lives nearby, says she is anxious to see the park fully restored.
“The residents around here, we used it and we loved it,” Digiovanni said. “And for the last 18 months, it’s basically been covered in sand and debris.”
The city plans to add a seawall, a paver driveway with more parking spaces, a sidewalk, an elevated permanent bathroom, a picnic table, palm trees and other plants.
Before Helene, the park had a total of 17 parking spots.
According to a public works memo, two golf cart spots along, with a compact car parking space, will not come back.
That’s to make room for an ADA-compliant access ramp and stairs for the restroom.
This photo shows the four resident spots only at the park which opened last month. (Spectrum News/Josh Rojas)
Some residents, along with the owner of Lisa’s Café, want the park to look like it did before Caddy’s opened next door in 2021.
Back then, there were only five parking spots.
Lisa Ammons posted the deed from the Stuarts, which states they were donating the less than half acres of land “solely for the purpose of a city park.”
Ammons wrote: “Make it a park, or it goes back to the heirs!”
A few days ago, City Commissioner Housh Ghovaee told Spectrum News that the city was honoring the Stuart’s deed.
“Whatever the agreement was, we certainly will and have to honor that,” he said. “But again, whose definition is park, whose definition is parking?”
Caddy’s purchased a previously planned restaurant’s property and agreement with the city.
It called for increased parking spots at the park, along with a fence coming down for a drive-thru.
In exchange, Caddy’s gave the city a five-foot easement of land, paid to rebuild the park and $25,000 for a portable restroom.
At a public workshop last month, Mayor Anne Marie Brooks said she was aware of the conversation that it was no longer a park.
“I would beg to differ. It is a park,” she said. “It has parking places, it has access to the beach, the bathroom will be restored. It is a park very similar to the county park.”
Public Works says it currently has bids out for the restoration work.
It will likely be at least six months before Kitty Stuart Park fully reopens.
It’s a day residents are looking forward to.
“We miss it. We can’t wait for it to come back,” Digiovanni said.
Public Works says the seawall must be built back first, followed by the parking lot.
Stuart Kitty Park could open before the restroom is complete.