Topsail Hill Sites Being Repaired??

fla-gypsy wrote:

Dutch Oven Man wrote:
Original poster here...lot's of interesting discussion, but no answer to my question. Anyway, I did find something interesting today in the paper from the head of Florida Parks (or something like that) Jon Steverson

"He, Steverson, referred to Topsail Hill, a beachfront state park near Destin, as "one of my top money-makers." With $2.7 million in annual revenue, the park is 219 percent self sustaining...


I guess you could say they spend the money where the money is being spent?? Sounds reasonable to me.

Thats because they charge twice the regular state park rate and no other reason. I made my original observation about funding from many years of watching this go down. They dump millions into Topsail yearly and let St Andrews just down the coastline rot away when it has far more visitors each year. Topsail is the favored park and some politicians "pet" park for no good reason. As for there being no other state parks in Florida like it, it's a good thing but there are plenty of Florida State park campgrounds that have FHU sites and have been refurbished in the last 10 years and far exceed the expeience that can be had at Topsail.

Interesting mix of opinion, and to be charitable an "odd" perspective on how business works. Topsail is one of the most successful and popular state parks in the system. It has a fantastic ROI. The state is being responsible by spending wisely, and devoting some of the revenue stream to repairing the challenging and substandard infrastructure. As for charging twice as much? A quick check of rvparkreviews.com shows the two closest state parks show rates of $30-$33, and private CGs are anywhere from $60-$114.

So the park is typically full, the rates are low compared to the competition, and the operation is a real money maker for the state........ sounds horrible...........:R