Views of Beaufort’s stunning waterfront instantly improved this week. Take a look
Beaufort has finally scrapped its ugly 8-foot-tall chain link fence in favor of a shorter picket fence at its famed front porch known as Waterfront Park.
The change instantly improved the views and elicited good reviews.
“It’s a good view to see the boats and water and bridge,” said Steve Hopper, a Louisiana man visiting the city as part of a tour group traveling by bus on Wednesday.
The Beaufort promenade, a central feature of the park, is still off limits for strolling.
On Tuesday, a crew from Graybar Fence Co. began erecting a 4-foot-tall aluminum picket fence along the edge of the 1,200-foot-long walkway to keep people from walking on it.
The fence is necessary to keep people out until the promenade’s failing underwater support structures can be replaced. That job could cost as much as $30 million and take five years.
The spiffy new fence is replacing an 8-foot-tall chain-link fence the city put up 10 months ago.
The city decided to spend $27,000 on a better-looking fence after receiving complaints the chain link version was ugly and blocked the views visitors enjoy so much.
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“We’re going to live with this for five years, so it better be more attractive,” Beaufort resident Rob Cahill said as he inspected the new fence on Wednesday afternoon.
The new fencing should be up by next Wednesday, said Vernon Hagood, a fence installer with Beaufort-based Graybar Fence Co. The job calls for putting up 625 feet of fence.
“This is what they use in their front and backyards,” Hagood said.
The city will move the popular porch swings near the fence and closer to the water once the new fence is up, City Manager Scott Marshall said.
