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Pinellas OKs Fort DeSoto Drainage Project

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By Stephen Thompson, The Tampa Tribune, and Rod Challenger, News Channel 8

Published: November 6, 2007

Updated: 11/06/2007 11:40 am

CLEARWATER - The Pinellas County Commission this morning unanimously approved an agreement with the state to repair the drainage system at Fort DeSoto Park.

The agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection calls for the county to accept a $500,000 grant toward the project but also to provide $125,000 from its budget to complete the job.

The original drainage system for the top of the fort has collapsed, creating water damage so severe that the walls of the fort are dissolving, county officials said.

Sections of the fort will likely be closed to the public during the reconstruction project. The job is expected to be completed within three years, said Paul Cozzie, parks director for the county.

Water seeps through sand on top of the fort whenever it rains and is supposed to be caught by clay pipes within the edifice, said Bob Browning, the district supervisor for Fort DeSoto Park. Ideally, the water would travel through the pipes until the water is discharged outside, but the clay pipes have collapsed, he said.

That means water is leaking into the concrete innards of the fort, causing the walls to dissolve, Browning said. Park staff know the walls are dissolving from the inside because stalactites have appeared on the ceilings of the rooms on the first floor of the fort, he said.

The drainage system was put in place when the fort was constructed in 1898, Browning said. One reason to repair it is to prevent leaking water to cause corrosion to the steel beams embedded in the concrete, Browning said.

Fort De Soto receives 2.7 million visitors a year.

The first step of the project is to hire a architectural consultant to make recommendations on how to go forward, Cozzie said.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com. Rod Challenger can be reached at (727) 536-8283 or rchallenger@wfla.com.

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