The agenda for the Key Colony Beach City Commission's Oct. 22 regular meeting lists its venue as "The Key Colony Inn – Back Patio," 700 W. Ocean Drive, with a Zoom option for anyone who can't attend in person. The September meeting was held there as well. The city's listing for the Nov. 19 meeting also gives the Inn as the venue.
That third listing is the useful one. The contract for rebuilding Marble Hall allowed time through September 2026 to reach substantial completion. By the city's own calendar, the elected body that will move into the building plans to keep meeting somewhere else for at least two months past that target. For a city this small, that matters well beyond the commission. Everyone uses the building, whether for the post office or for the city offices.
What is going up on the Marble Hall site
The project keeps and hardens the existing Marble Hall and post office rather than replacing them. A two-story addition adds 4,200 square feet and brings the finished facility to 12,400 square feet. Keys Weekly's groundbreaking coverage lists what the finished building is meant to include:
- A new fitness center
- Offices and conference space
- A lobby with an ADA-compliant entry
- Upstairs space for the building and police departments, plus the city's emergency operations center
- Roof work, landscaping and a patio
- A generator
- Raised, re-striped parking
Some of that is already visible. City Administrator John Bartus told Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM's Good Morning Keys that a new roof now covers most of the existing structure, work he described as necessary to preserve Marble Hall and the post office. He also said both would be "storm-hardened and flood-proofed" when finished. The Keys News Talk write-up of that interview quotes him saying the staff in "the administrative and the police departments" are "ready to inhabit a new office building and a new city hall."
During construction, services have been spread out. When work began in January, the city said post office access and parking would be affected and that the Building Department would work from a temporary City Hall trailer. In April, the Florida Keys Free Press quoted the city newsletter as saying people could still walk safely through the parking lot to Marble Hall and the post office.
How September moved, one step at a time
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| Dec. 19, 2025 | Groundbreaking. Contractor Pedro Falcon has 273 days, through September 2026, to reach substantial completion |
| January 2026 | City notice says work starts that week. Building Department moves to a temporary trailer |
| April 27, 2026 | Vice Mayor Doug Colonell calls the job "very far behind schedule" |
| Aug. 20, 2026 | Four Pedro Falcon change orders go on the commission agenda |
| Undated interview | Bartus forecasts substantial completion "sometime in October" |
| Sept. 17 and Oct. 22, 2026 | Commission meets at the Key Colony Inn back patio |
| Nov. 19, 2026 | Next commission meeting posted for the Inn |
April was the low point. According to the Free Press account, Colonell said, "We are six months into the job and we've got 10% of the job done." He said the city had not received a critical-path schedule or recovery plan, and that the contractor was "pushing this job into December." The commission authorized him to negotiate the timeline. At the same meeting, commissioners approved change order 12, for $143,798.35, to replace the concrete slab and pin piles in the administration area. Those had been installed the year before and turned out to be defective, so the slab was removed and the pile caps demolished.
Over the summer the forecast improved, and Bartus said the building was "really coming together." Even so, his October target and the December date the vice mayor objected to in April now look close together. Nothing the city has posted gives a confirmed move-in date. The Oct. 22 agenda listed a "City Hall Update" under the vice mayor's comments, and the content of that update was not included in the agenda.
What the building costs, and who pays
Keys Weekly reported a projected cost of about $5.5 million at the groundbreaking. The largest outside source of money is a Resilient Florida grant of $2,282,859.28. In the mayor's August grant update, the city lists that grant with no local match. That is roughly 40 percent of the projected cost. A May commission packet asked for authority to borrow up to $3 million for the City Hall improvements. The grant and that loan ceiling together come to about $5.28 million, close to the groundbreaking estimate before change orders are added.
The change orders continue. The Aug. 20 agenda listed four requests from Pedro Falcon:
- Ductwork, $26,888.73
- Insulation, $28,118.75, adding five days
- Replacement of an air handling unit, $20,965.08
- A pergola, $142,800
The pergola was listed as excluded from the schedule and from substantial completion. If it moves ahead, the city could move into the building before that outdoor feature is finished.
The next projects are small, outdoor and still waiting on the county
With City Hall almost done, the city has already lined up its next round of work, and these projects are on a very different scale. On Sept. 29, the Monroe County Tourist Development Council approved all six of Key Colony Beach's FY 2027 capital project applications, for a total of $494,550.
| Project | TDC funding |
|---|---|
| Fitness trail improvements | $104,300 |
| Basketball court improvements | $85,250 |
| 7th Street restroom improvements | $80,500 |
| Pickleball restroom improvements | $80,500 |
| City Hall electronic sign | $75,000 |
| Sunset Park gazebo | $69,000 |
Five of the six are places people already use every day, such as the fitness trail, the courts, the restrooms beside them, and Sunset Park. The sixth is a sign for the building that isn't open yet. Approval does not mean work can start. The city's release says the projects still need funding agreements and final approval from the County before work begins.
Two more park requests are coming up behind those. The city held public input on Sept. 28 for Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program applications: $50,000 for 1st Street Park improvements and $112,500 for 7th Street Park. Those are applications, and nothing has been awarded. Down the road in Marathon, park projects took years to go from planning to opening, and Key Colony Beach's courts and trail are now at the start of that same process.
The season calendar, wherever it ends up
Both the TDC money and City Hall are still in progress, but the city's social calendar is set. Here is what the city events calendar lists for the rest of the year:
- Key Colony Beach Farmer's Market, Tuesdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with dates listed on Nov. 10, 17 and 24 and Dec. 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29
- Welcome Back Party, Thursday, Nov. 19, 5 to 9 p.m.
- Annual Christmas Boat Parade, Sunday, Dec. 13, 5 to 9 p.m.
- New Year's Eve Party, Dec. 31, 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Jan. 1
Nov. 19 is busy. The Welcome Back Party falls on the same date the commission is posted to meet at the Inn, so seasonal residents coming back that week will find city business still being held at the Inn. The city's event pages do not give a venue or organizer for the party, or a route for the boat parade. Those details are most likely to appear on the city calendar as the dates get closer.
For owners who spend part of the year away, the Key Colony Beach neighborhood page shows how the island fits into the rest of the Middle Keys. When Marble Hall reopens, it will bring the post office, the police department, the emergency operations center and a new fitness center back under one storm-hardened roof.
If you own in Key Colony Beach and you're away while construction wraps up, our House Watch and property management team can keep an eye on your place and keep you current on what's changing near it. To talk through what City Hall and the coming park work could mean for your property, contact BHHS Knight & Gardner Realty at our Marathon office.
