Andy Bowie Park on South Padre Island closing for a seaside makeover

Andy Bowie County Park is seen in this undated photo. (Courtesy: Cameron County)

Cameron County has announced the temporary closure of Andy Bowie Park, 7300 State Park Rd. at County Beach Access No. 2 on South Padre Island, in order to carry out demolition and replacement of existing dilapidated structures.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the major rehabilitation project is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, with the park’s closure to begin Thursday. The county said the park would be closed “until further notice,” but also said the new construction should take no longer than a year to complete.

The county said its recent decision to close the existing pavilion on the park’s south end due to safety concerns was soon followed by the decision to completely rehab the park with necessary improvements in order to better serve visitors for generations to come.

The proposed improvements include razing two existing covered pavilions, which have exceeded their serviceable life and are no longer safe for occupancy, and replacing them with new “elevated plaza pavilions” featuring picnic tables and environmentally friendly lighting, according to the county.

Existing restroom/bath house facilities, concession buildings and an office building likewise will be refurbished and upgraded, as will an on-site park ranger station, the county said.

Andy Bowie’s south parking lot will receive an overlay to prolong its serviceable life, and a pedestrian walkway/beach access with rinse stations will be added, according to the county.

“Aesthetic improvements such as landscaping are also included in the overall design and construction of the project,” the county said. “Weather permitting, the construction should be completed in 8-12 months.”

County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. said the county’s SPI parks provide an “array of amenities and recreational opportunities” and that he’s excited to see the improvements to Andy Bowie and other coastal parks in the county park system.

Precinct 1 County Commissioner Sofia Benavides also said she’s looking forward to upgrades at Andy Bowie.

“The improvements to this popular beach access area will result in positive changes that children and families will benefit from for years to come,” she said.

Benavides expressed gratitude to Treviño and the commissioners court “for their vision and commitment to enhancing public beach access opportunities,” noting that the county has invested more than $40 million in coastal park improvements in recent years.

Parks Director Joe Vega said the park improvements will make the facilities safer as well as more enjoyable for the public. The current structures at Andy Bowie were built in 1994.

The county estimated that redeveloping Andy Bowie will cost approximately $6.9 million, with the improvements being funded with money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021, SpaceX and county certificates of obligation.

The architect on the project is Gomez Mendez Saenz Inc. The engineering firm is RRP Consulting Engineers, the structural engineering firm Green, Rubiano & Associates Inc., and the construction general contractor A&I Custom Manufacturing LLC.

Andy Bowie, named for a county commissioner who served in the 1950s, is the second SPI park in the county park system, after Isla Blanca on SPI’s southern tip, according to the U.S. Senate Congressional Record of Nov. 5, 1963.

Andy Bowie was completely undeveloped until that year, when a 500-foot fishing pier with 200-foot T-head at the end was built by a private company operating under a lease from the county, according to the document.

“At the entrance to the pier is a concession and bait stand, built out over the water, where the general beach-going public as well as the pier-fishing clientele can have sandwiches and what-have-you while enjoying the splendid vista of the waves rolling in below, with the unbroken and seemingly endless sweep of Padre Island stretched out beyond,” it says.

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