Flagler’s Varn Park to Close for 8 Weeks During Dune Restoration

Varn Park will be closed for eight weeks beginning next week while an emergency dune restoration project is conducted in the area. Starting on Tuesday, June 3rd, the public space will temporarily be off limits to accommodate crews who’ll be starting a wide swath of dune restoration in northern coastal Flagler County. “We appreciate everyone’s patience and apologize for the short notice,” said Flagler County Coastal Engineering Administrator Ansley Wren-Key. “We didn’t think we were going to be able to start this emergency project so soon, but everything fell into place.” The most recent information on Flagler County’s website lists this section of dune restoration as slated to begin in ‘summer 2025’, with an uncertain end date. It will start about 1,900 feet north of Varn Park, and conclude just north of the Flagler Beach pier. Meanwhile, construction on the rebuilding of the pier is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 16th. The first steps in the dune restoration at Varn Park will happen on Tuesday, when the county’s contractor will start setting up their equipment. By one week later on Tuesday, June 10th, the placement of new sand along the beach will begin. Prior to this, the most recent major coastal engineering project in Flagler County came in July and August of 2024, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted coastal storm risk management from the Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area to 7th Street North in Flagler Beach. That project wrapped up roughly a month ahead of schedule, according to county estimates.