City leaders hope a state grant could fully fund the project ahead of the summer tourism season.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — North Beach could soon look very different as the City of Corpus Christi plans a major effort to restore its shoreline after years of severe erosion.

City leaders are proposing a beach renourishment project that would rebuild the coastline by adding about 80 cubic yards of sand back to the area.

Local businesses along the beach say the erosion has already taken a toll.

“If it continues to erode it’s going to come too far and it’s going to mess up a lot of things here,” said Thomas Everingham, Assistant Manager at Palace Beachwear, which sits directly across from what used to be the North Beach shoreline.

As the sand has disappeared, Everingham said the effects have become hard to ignore.

“It will flood the roadways, it will actually flood our whole shop here,” he said.

Beyond flooding concerns, business owners say the shoreline is also a key draw for visitors — and a critical part of the area’s economy.

“(From) The Lexington herself, to the aquarium, and the hotels here — we all depend on those yearly numbers. And without those yearly numbers we wouldn’t be able to make it and we’ve been here 25 years doing that,” Everingham said.

Corpus Christi At-Large Councilman Roland Barrera said the project could be funded through a grant from the Texas General Land Office — a move that could save the city about $6 million.

“Because of the challenges that we’ve had with the weather and hurricanes we’ve been through we qualify for a zero match. So with that a hundred percent can be funded by the general land office,” Barrera said.

Barrera called the funding opportunity unprecedented during his time on the council.

“Not in the seven years that I have been on the council. I have never seen anything like this. This is monumental it’s a great deal,” he said.

The City has not yet been notified of the final funding amount. Once that decision is made, Barrera said the goal is to move forward with the project before the summer tourism season.