CLEARWATER, Fla. — The city of Clearwater will start a major overhaul starting next summer to Clearwater Beach Marina.

The marina draws huge crowds of tourists and boaters but has been showing its showing age. It was built in the 1950s and only has seen a few updates over the years. 

Mike MacDonald, the Director of Marine and Aviation for the city of Clearwater, says the $34 million project will be big.

“We’re going to raise the seawall about 18 inches for the future sea level rise… the sidewalk is going to be redone… we’re going to do the construction in two phases and the commercial fleet will maintain operations during the construction,” MacDonald said.

Charter boat captains are thrilled about the updates to come, saying the marina is in dire need of repairs and replacements.

Mike Colby is a charter captain and president of the Clearwater Marina Association. He says the new marina is needed.

“The infrastructure needs repair, the seawall, the power lines, the plumbing lines, this stuff is 60 years old or older,” Colby said.

However, Colby does have some concerns about parking, saying that there isn’t enough.

“I wish they could have done this without losing 25 to 30 parking spaces,” he said.

The city is looking for solutions to the parking space issue, which could be addressed after the marina is completed.