On the afternoon of April 30, Monroe County Mayor Michelle Coldiron handed Key West a ceremonial key to Higgs Beach. At midnight the city took ownership of the beach, the park around it, the buildings and the recreation facilities. For decades the county had owned the 16-acre parcel in the heart of town. City and county had talked about a transfer for about ten years before one finally happened.
Five months later, there's still no plan for what the park becomes. The pickleball courts, the covered rink and the pump track are a concept, and the concept has no design contract and no construction estimate. Nearly every dollar the city has committed so far goes to keeping the existing park clean and patched. For people who walk to Higgs from Casa Marina, that means the park's shape is still open for debate, and the next public decision comes on Nov. 5.
What changed hands on May 1
Under the transfer, Key West received the park plus about $3.7 million in grants and insurance proceeds. Keys Weekly reported that about $3 million of that came from Hurricane Ian insurance claims and Tourist Development Council grants. Those funds cover long-term beach cleaning and maintenance along with specific projects: seawall repair, playground improvements and upgrades to the historic West Martello building.
The city also took over the county's leases. Key West is now the landlord for Salute, the Key West Gardens at West Martello and Sunset Watersports. The first visible changes were basic. City crews mowed, cleaned the amenities, trimmed trees and rehabilitated the exercise deck near the Edward B. Knight Pier.
Day to day, the park runs as it did before. The Key West Garden Club at 1100 Atlantic Blvd. holds its first general meeting of the season on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m., and its annual plant sale on Nov. 20 and 21. Salute's website still lists daily dining at 1000 Atlantic Blvd.
Upkeep money is committed. Makeover money isn't.
The clearest picture of Higgs Beach's near future comes from the Sept. 3 City Commission meeting. Commissioners took up three Higgs Beach items that night, and only two of them passed.
| Item | Amount | Status after Sept. 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Daily beach cleaning by Beach Raker LLC | $510,248, running through Jan. 25, 2029 | Approved |
| Beach restoration and nourishment project | $1 million total | Approved for a state grant application only |
| Master plan design task order with Bender & Associates Architects | $188,130 | Postponed, now set for Nov. 5 |
| Building whatever the master plan proposes | No estimate published | Not yet before the commission |
The cleaning contract is the only item on that list that has actually started. For the nourishment project, commissioners authorized the city to ask the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for beach-management money in the state's 2027–28 budget year. The request is for up to $500,000 from the state, with the city's share capped at $500,000. The Key West Citizen reported that the city's share would come from its Fort Taylor Fund. For now it's a grant application, not a construction schedule.
The seawall shows how far the inherited money will stretch. In an interview with Keys News Talk, District 5 Commissioner Chris Massicotte said seawall repairs would cost more than the roughly $900,000 in insurance proceeds set aside for them. He said the city wants improvements that cut down on repeat storm damage. So the transfer money that sounded generous in April already has to cover more than one big repair.
The concept that started the argument
The proposal behind the postponed task order would turn Higgs Beach into what the consultant's proposal calls a "higher-quality regional destination" for pickleball. Above the Fold described the concept as 16 standard courts plus one tournament court along the northwestern side of the park near Casa Marina Court, with landscaping along the northern edge to screen views and noise. The courts would not have lights. The concept also includes a covered hockey rink, a pump track, an artificial-turf field, a dog park and a rebuilt playground.
For neighbors on Casa Marina Court and the blocks behind it, the court complex is the part of the concept most likely to change how the park feels. Above the Fold pointed out that the city had not published a court-use study, demand analysis, neighborhood noise study, traffic plan or public survey supporting 17 courts. It also asked whether tournaments, leagues or reservations would get priority over walk-up use. The outlet reported that the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board had made no recommendation on the plan in its published 2026 agendas and minutes.
The $188,130 task order would pay an architect to develop the master plan. It wouldn't build a single court. That's why the Sept. 3 vote mattered more than its dollar amount suggests. Paying for the design is the step that would turn a concept drawing into the city's working plan for the site.
Why commissioners pressed pause
Commissioners voted 5–2 on Sept. 3 to postpone the Bender & Associates agreement and seek more public input before moving the master plan forward. The Key West Citizen reported that commissioners said the city needed a clearer vision for the property before directing an architect to design it.
The African Cemetery at Higgs Beach was part of that discussion. According to the Citizen, Arida Wright, organizer of the annual Day of Remembrance at the cemetery, and Sebai Sekayi Khita Hetep, both representing the Rose Diversity Group, asked commissioners during public comment to consider a sacred space or ancestral shrine honoring the Africans buried there. They also asked for signage explaining the site's significance. Above the Fold reported that more than 100 unmarked African graves are believed to lie beneath and around parts of the park. It also noted that Rolling Stone had published a national investigation of the cemetery that same week. Any plan that moves courts, fences or paths at Higgs will have to account for that history.
What came up at the Oct. 3 meeting
Commissioner Massicotte held a public-input session at the Higgs Beach Pavilion on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., followed by a walking tour. In a column for Key West Island News, editor Linda Grist Cunningham counted about a hundred residents, along with city staff, the mayor and several commissioners. Her column reported a wish list that included:
- More lights for the tennis courts and more pickleball courts
- Bigger dog parks for small and large dogs, with more grass
- More parking, and removal of the chain-link fences
- Playgrounds and better sand for beach volleyball
- Rebuilding the full length of the Reynolds Street Pier
- Wider recognition of the African Cemetery, including the graves believed to lie under the road and other parts of the park
Several items on that list compete with each other for the same flat ground. More lit courts and more open grass can't both fit everywhere. A new dog park and expanded recognition of the cemetery could involve the same parts of the park. Cunningham's own view, from her column's title, is that she wants "a park, not a bunch of stuff." She also described crumbling seawalls and two band shells undermined by seawater erosion. That brings the debate back to repair money, the one category the city is already spending.
Nov. 5 and what follows
Above the Fold first reported that the task order would come back in October. It wasn't among the 41 items on the Oct. 1 City Commission agenda. The city's legislative file for the Higgs Beach Master Plan, file 26-5776, now shows it as "Agenda Ready" for Nov. 5. The resolution would approve the $188,130 task order with Bender & Associates Architects under the city's general architectural services contract.
If commissioners approve it, design work begins. That will be the first time a firm is paid to settle where the courts, rink, dog park, playground and cemetery boundaries go. If they postpone again or send it back for changes, Higgs Beach stays what it is now: a park the city maintains and repairs while it decides what the place should be. In either case, construction is further off. No overall building estimate has been published, and state nourishment money, if awarded, is tied to the 2027–28 budget year.
Meanwhile, the beach still gets raked daily under the new contract, Salute is still serving on Atlantic Boulevard, and the Garden Club's plant sale is on the calendar for Nov. 20 and 21. For Casa Marina neighbors, the master plan file and the Nov. 5 agenda are the place to follow what happens to the lawn across the street.
If you own near Higgs Beach and want to know how the park's next steps could affect your street, the agents at BHHS Knight & Gardner Realty follow these decisions closely and are glad to walk through them with you. You can also read our Casa Marina neighborhood guide or contact our Key West office.
