Sexton Plaza renovation to begin at last

Work is expected to begin in June on the long awaited renovation of Sexton Plaza, which will create a promenade between the Ocean Grill and the beachside Holiday Inn similar to the plaza on Royal Palm Pointe.

While the city and the Florida Department of Environmental Projection have been squabbling over the proposed lighting and how it might affect turtles, civil engineer Scott Sanders of the Vero Beach Public Works Department said the city expects to get the DEP permit to proceed back by mid-June.

That would pave the way for the three-quarter of a million dollar project to be completed around the end of September.

While the project will in many ways resemble the makeover of Royal Palm Pointe, Sanders said the new Sexton Plaza “will have a more beachy feel.”

The center median in Sexton Plaza will be doubled in width, and enhancedwith new landscaping. A new two foot high entrance wall on the Ocean Drive side of the plaza – which was to be four-foot high and run 40 feet in the original plans – has been shortened to approximately seven feet, according to Sanders.

Sidewalks will be slightly widened in front of the shops lining Sexton Plaza, with new landscaping and benches.

The most dramatic change is that there will no longer be parking facing the beach. Instead, a fan shaped promenade will be created and the boardwalk on the ocean side of the plaza will be lowered, so people sitting on benches on the promenade can look out over the sea.

Coconut palms will be interspersed among the brick pavers. Sunshine Land Design of Stuart has been awarded a $565,464 contract to make most of the changes. Another $154,000 will go toward the purchase and installation of landscaping.