VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — From her childhood home, Tonya Whitley patiently awaits the day she’ll have a less messy view outside her backyard.
“I used to sell golf balls for a quarter right on the corner, and lemonade to the golfers," Whitley laughed.
A project to improve recreation and flood protection in the city has a set completion date for 2030.
According to Virginia Beach city officials, that's the anticipated completion date for The Bow Creek Stormwater Park and facility behind the Bow Creek Recreation Center down the street from the Lynnhaven Mall, a project made possible by the passed flood referendum in 2021.
The former municipal golf course has been given new life, in an effort to fix flooding in the City of Virginia Beach, now one of roughly two dozen flood mitigation projects through Phase 1 of the Flood Protection Program (FPP).
"My thoughts at first were kind of freaked out, I thought they’d build houses or condos and when they said they’re building a park I thought at least it’s not condos," Whitley said.
“Because of the magnitude of the project, we’re working from east to west. In the next two to three years, we should have the eastern section of the park open to the public,” Jeff VanFossen said, one of the city's stormwater engineers says.
In total, all of the Phase 1 projects of the FPP have an estimated cost around $990 million.