FORT PIERCE – The City Commission here unanimously approved an interlocal agreement with the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency on Sept. 8 that will fund up to $97,000 in additional research and design on the feasibility of realigning Indian River Drive and potentially building a parking garage downtown at Marina Square.
The Commission and FPRA Board members – who are one and the same wearing different hats – have worked towards this goal since the FPRA accepted the Downtown Master Plan in November 2022.
That document pinpointed the redevelopment of Marina Square as a lynchpin in the transformation of the city’s downtown waterfront area.
The FPRA subsequently retained Orlando-based Inspire Placemaking Collective to prepare a Marina Square Conceptual Master Plan, which that Board received on Sept. 9, 2025.
A subsequent change order last November authorized additional planning and evaluation, and on May 12 of this year, the FPRA Board formally directed staff to proceed with additional design services to evaluate cost estimates for potentially realigning IRD and building a parking structure.
On Aug. 11, the same Board approved the latest interlocal agreement with the city.
Community and Economic Development Director Shyanne Harnage introduced the city’s part of that agreement to city commissioners during the latest meeting, although they’d already approved the FPUA’s participation wearing their other hats.
“This is an interlocal agreement between the City of Fort Pierce and the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency spelling out the arrangement between the city and the FPRA to advance this project,” she said Sept. 8.
“The city being the property owner and the FPRA being the funder for the potential improvements and the design. This was approved by the FPRA Board at the last meeting as was the specific authorization to move forward with the design and cost advancement. There is no fiscal impact to the City of Fort Pierce as part of this agreement: This is just getting us through this advanced design. We would have to come back before you and the FPRA Board with any actions related to potentially moving into construction or actual real design construction drawings.”
Mayor Linda Hudson posed the only clarification question from the Commission that evening.
“This design is primarily for figuring out if they can fit the parking garage in the reconfiguration of Indian River Drive?” she asked.
“That is correct,” Harnage replied. “Specifically, this is looking at the parking garage and the potential reconfiguration of Indian River Drive. We’ve had a lot of separate conversations about parking in Downtown Fort Pierce, so we’re kind of using this project as that vehicle to further investigate that parking structure.”
Harnage pointed out that this latest research would answer crucial questions about the proposed parking garage’s feasibility, cost-effectiveness, potential number of spaces and number of floors.
“So, Inspire has put together this scope to design the Marina Square Project to-date,” she concluded. “They have consultants that they’ll be working with that have a lot of experience in structured parking, so it’s just all about the integration of how this all works and plays together.”
With no further questions or comments for Harnage, the City Commission voted unanimously to approve the interlocal agreement with the FPRA.