"He rallied the community because so many people were shocked by the idea of having mini-malls and 500 condos on the site." That is how Jennifer Longmire described her father, James Milton Hunt, when she spoke to the Volusia County Council on February 3, 2026, according to the county's closed-caption transcript of that meeting. She was asking the council to back a new name for the 52 acres at the south end of the peninsula. Most of us just call it Lighthouse Point Park.
Tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 23, is the date Volusia County has set for two things at the park. The name James Milton Hunt Lighthouse Point Park takes effect, and work begins on a boardwalk replacement estimated at about $7 million. The timing fits. Hunt's campaign kept this land open to the public, and the new boardwalk is designed to let more people get to more of it.
A developer who said no to development
Hunt's obituary in the Daytona Beach News-Journal describes him first as a Licensed Real Estate Developer "responsible for the creation of many commercial buildings." So the man who led the fight against building on the inlet's edge was a builder himself. He also knew this shoreline from childhood. Born in 1943, he "spent his childhood in the sand of Daytona Beach, Florida, surfing every chance he got," and graduated with Seabreeze High School's Class of 1961, where he served as student body president.
His daughter told the County Council that he used to ride his bicycle to the inlet as a boy and "loved that piece of land even when he was a child." As an adult, he launched and led the "Don't Condo Our Lighthouse" campaign. After several years of opposing the development, he persuaded the state of Florida to buy the land in 1983, and that purchase created Lighthouse Point Park, according to the News-Journal obituary. The Sierra Club gave him its "Outstanding Achievement" award. He later wrote about the fight in two books, Don't Condo Our Lighthouse and Activism at Its Best. He was also an Eagle Scout and a longtime member of the Volusia County Lifeguard Corps.
Hunt died in September 2024 at age 81. His daughter said he visited the park several times a week once it opened, "to watch people enjoy it."
Why the county had to ask the state
The renaming went through several steps because the land Hunt saved belongs to the state. Volusia County's park page says the Florida Department of Environmental Protection owns the property, and the county manages it under a lease. In February, the County Council described its role as sending a letter of support to FDEP. It wasn't renaming county property itself. The Town of Ponce Inlet had already put its support on record. The town's 2025 accomplishments report lists a letter to the County Council backing the "James Milton Hunt Lighthouse Point Park" name.
Here's how the dates line up, from the land purchase to tomorrow:
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1983 | State of Florida buys the land after the "Don't Condo Our Lighthouse" campaign |
| September 10, 2024 | James Milton Hunt dies at 81 |
| 2025 | Town of Ponce Inlet writes the County Council supporting the new name |
| February 3, 2026 | County Council takes up support for the renaming request to the state |
| March 17, 2026 | County's approved ECHO spending plan includes the Lighthouse Point Park boardwalk expansion |
| August 20, 2026 | County officials tell Ponce Inlet Town Council that construction and renaming will start together |
| October 23, 2026 | Scheduled start of construction and official renaming |
What the county told Ponce Inlet in August
The most detailed public update on the project came at the August 20 Ponce Inlet Town Council meeting. County Council Vice-Chair Matt Reinhart introduced Niles Cyzycki, construction manager for the county's Coastal Division. According to the meeting minutes, Cyzycki described the project as a "replacement, improvement, and expansion of the timber boardwalk pathway." He put the estimated construction cost at around $7 million, paid for by the Volusia County Port Authority and the county's ECHO program, and said the work would have minimal environmental impact on the surrounding area. Reinhart said the official renaming would happen at the same time construction begins on October 23.
The county's approved ECHO plan shows how the funding was assembled. It lists $2.5 million in ECHO funding, matched by $2.5 million budgeted in the Port Authority fund. The roughly $7 million figure given to the town council in August is the later construction cost estimate.
What the new boardwalk is supposed to fix
The ECHO plan explains what the money is meant to change. The project calls for:
- Boardwalk connections between the park's walkovers "where none existed previously."
- Raising the on-grade nature paths into elevated boardwalks so they meet ADA requirements.
- Making the walkovers ADA compliant where possible.
- Working with the Volusia County Marine Science Center on educational features once construction is done.
Today the park has elevated wooden boardwalks, a nature trail through the wooded center that leads to an observation tower over the Halifax River, an 800-foot jetty deck, and a dog-friendly swimming area on the inlet shore. The plan's focus on connecting walkovers and raising the ground-level paths points straight at the wooded center and the trail to the tower. Those are the parts of the park that are hardest to reach without good footing. The Marine Science Center sits on Lighthouse Drive inside the park, so its role in the educational piece is close to home.
Hunt's campaign stopped 500 condos and kept the inlet's edge public. Forty-plus years later, the county is spending to make more of that public land reachable for people who can't manage a sandy trail.
Before your next visit
The county hasn't posted a closure schedule, detour map, or completion date for the boardwalk work. Its Lighthouse Point Park page still lists regular operations, so check it before you head down. The current basics from that page:
- Address: 5000 S. Atlantic Ave., Ponce Inlet
- Hours, October 1 through November 30: 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
- Hours, December 1 through February 9: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Admission: $10 per vehicle, free for registered handicapped and disabled veteran vehicles
- Inlet Parks Annual Pass: $20, no longer sold at the park entrance; buy it online at parkvolusia.org or at the Park Volusia offices at 302 North Causeway in New Smyrna Beach or 2422 S. Atlantic Ave. in Daytona Beach Shores
- Dogs: leashed dogs are welcome on the inlet shore beach but not on the Atlantic Ocean beach, and they're not allowed on the elevated boardwalks after 10 a.m.
If you visit once a week or more, the $20 annual pass costs the same as two single-day entries. The dog rule may matter more during construction. Boardwalks are the part of the park being rebuilt, and dogs are already restricted on them after 10 a.m., so the inlet shore will likely stay your main dog-walking spot.
The rest of the south end that week
The same Friday evening, the Town of Ponce Inlet holds its Children's Halloween Party at Davies Park. This year the town replaced the Haunted Hayride, which needed more than 20 volunteers each year, with "Haunted Heritage." It's a pair of free 30-minute performances by Dotlight Theater Co. that bring historical figures and legends of Ponce Inlet and Pacetti Cemetery to life. Performance tickets are limited and handed out that day on a first-come, first-served basis. Children's games, food, and Trick-or-Treat Street are on as usual, and no RSVP is needed. The town calls the performance a pilot program. If enough people turn out, it may grow to multiple days in future years.
Hunt's campaign protected the land around the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse & Museum. The lighthouse sits just outside the park at 4931 South Peninsula Drive, and it has history programs of its own coming up. The lighthouse events calendar lists a guided tour of the Pacetti Hotel Museum on Monday, November 2, at 11 a.m. On Tuesday, November 3, there's a program on the hotel's later owner, Cincinnati Reds owner Louis Nippert, with photos of famous ballplayers who spent time there.
If you live near the inlet, or you're thinking about how the park's work will affect daily life on the south end of the peninsula, the Wendy Schwoerer Team is glad to talk it through. We'll pass along what we hear about the boardwalk schedule as the county shares it. Contact Us anytime.
