Speaking before the Okaloosa Tourist Development Council on May 25th, Fort Walton Beach City Manager Michael Beedie gave an update on the much anticipated renovations slated for The Landing” in Downtown Fort Walton Beach.

“Unfortunately with The Landing, we’ve been held up by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the last two-and-a-half years trying to get our permits to proceed with the project,” said Beedie to the council. “It is a grant funded project through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment program with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. We’ve gotten every other permit that we’ve requested other than the Army Corps’.”

According to Beedie, the permitting is currently being held up in historical and cultural review through the State Historic Preservation Office.

• The Good News: “They did reach out to us last week and let us know that they are drafting a memorandum of agreement that they will forward to us that will highlight any archeological work that would need to be done if something were found during construction,” said Beedie. “That, we’ve been told, is the last piece of the puzzle in order to get the Army Corps of Engineer permits.

No timeline, however: The City of Fort Walton Beach wasn’t given a timeline on when they would receive the memorandum, with Beedie adding “but we we finally got a detailed update from the Army Corps after about a year-and-a-half of waiting for one.”