BEAUMONT, Texas — A downtown Beaumont renovation project is finally finishing after seven years.
Beaumont city leaders are hoping to welcome families back to Riverfront Park by the end of 2024. The popular park has undergone extensive restoration after Harvey ravaged that area along the Neches River.
The priority is to reopen the park, but city leaders say they're looking forward to adding new amenities.
Ward 2 Councilman Mike Getz tells 12News that this was once a place where families gathered and where thousands came out for the city's annual 4th of July celebration.
"When the currents came around this curve it washed out so much of the park here. Gosh Riverfront Park was underwater all the way up to these railroad tracks here," Getz said.
Getz says, last year the city started using $20 million in FEMA money to begin restoring Riverfront Park.
"You see all those sheet metal, the pilings. That's been driven deep deep down into the river bed," said Getz.
He says once that process is done, amenities families once enjoyed, will be restore.
"You're going to be able to still come here and tie your boats up. Of course you're going to have sidewalks and bike trails," Getz said.
The City of Beaumont's Director of Communications Tracy Kennick says during a park and master plan meeting on Wednesday, Riverfront Park came up.
"We have some grand ideas and right now they're just in the planning phases," Kennick said.
These are ideas they believe could make the park better.
"We're thinking about maybe piping in music, an amphitheater, putting a playground," said Kennick.
Getz would like to see a connected jogging trail downtown.
"I want to have bicycle and jogging paths as far as we can take. I think people will really enjoy that. We're really dying to get Riverfront Park open and utilize our riverfront once more," he said.
The city is hoping to reopen the popular park by the end of 2024.
Getz says reopening Riverfront Park, along with the proposed hotel and food park, will be pivotal to revitalizing downtown.