The USS Cavalla permanently docked in Galveston's Seawolf Park.
The Park Board of Trustees in Galveston, Texas, is awaiting a final budget for the organization to determine whether an RV park at Seawolf Park is worth investing in.
The park board, which manages the island’s beaches, previously has discussed building an RV park at Seawolf Park, a popular fishing spot for anglers and also home to some naval exhibits, Galveston County’s The Daily News reported.
The RV park would draw on the growing popularity of visitors opting to travel in recreational vehicles.
Plans for developing an RV park at Seawolf Park should be completed soon, said Bob Randall, an architect with Randall and Associates.
But the park board voted Tuesday to hold off on accepting bids on the project until the 2012 budget is finished.
“We do need to decide if this is something we want to pay from our reserves or take a loan out or just defer this project,” park board Chairman Craig Brown said.
Federal funding isn’t available to pay for the entire construction of the park, which, including restrooms, showers and the RV spaces, could cost about $1.5 million.
The RV park, spread out on five acres at Seawolf Park, would boast 44 RV sites.
Sixteen spaces could be used for trailers less than 35 feet long. About 20 spaces could accommodate RVs 40 feet long.
Seven spaces would be reserved for trailers larger than 50 feet and up to 70 feet.
“It’s a destination park,” Randall said. “It’d be close to the historical parts of the park and the fishing piers.”
At about 60% occupancy throughout the year, the park board could generate about $8,600 per space annually, Randall said.
If the park board decides to move forward with the park, bidding would start in September and construction would begin in October.
Randall said the site could be opened by the end of May 2012.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) withdrew funding for the RV project because concrete for the park would have gone in at a V-Zone, a high-velocity zone that requires more approval for developments, Brown said.
The park board already maintains Dellanera RV Park on the island’s West End. The park reopened in June and earned more than $8,000 in revenue during the Fourth of July weekend.
About Seawolf Park: Seawolf Park features a 3-story pavilion, the USS Cavalla (a World War II submarine) ; the USS Stewart (destroyer escort, one of only three in the world); a fishing pier and a playground. The park was built on an immigration station site and offers a three-story pavilion with a view of Galveston Harbor, picnic sites, a playground area and a lighted fishing pier. The park is named in memory of the Seawolf, a submarine which was sunk in the line of duty during World War II.
