Why is the famous Key West buoy closing and what’s taking its place? Take a look

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Why is the famous Key West buoy closing and what’s taking its place? Take a look

Taking a selfie at the red, yellow and ****** Southernmost Point marker is one of those Key West must-do’s for day-trippers and tourists.

But come August or September and for about a year after, you’ll be posing alongside a replica in a different location.

That’s because the landmark buoy will be out of commission.

Don’t worry — there’s nothing wrong with the original buoy. This isn’t a repeat of

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at the concrete marker that led to a month-long closing in September and October 2017 so that the original artists Danny Acosta and Henry Del Valle could do emergency repairs and repaint the battered buoy.

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Key West resident Pedro Lara takes selfie in front of the Southernmost Point in the USA monument as waves from Hurricane Irma crashes over the wall Sept. 9, 2017, as the storm approaches.

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In this September 2017 photo, damage to the original Southernmost Buoy marker is seen after Hurricane Irma’s winds and rushing water battered the popular attraction. The original artists repaired the marker within a month. The marker remains picturesque after its facelift but the grounds where it sits will be repaired in the fall of 2025.

Why will there be a replica Southernmost Buoy?

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A work in progress shot of a replica Southernmost Buoy marker inside a work space in May 2025. This temporary buoy will sit at Duval Street Pocket Park while the grounds where the original sits a block away undergoes repairs come late summer or early fall 2025.

The giant concrete buoy, which replaced a simple sign at the site in 1983, is fine after its spruce-up nearly eight years ago. But years of storms have undermined the existing Southernmost Plaza where the marker sits.

So the United States’ southernmost city has to repair the seawall, redo the roadway and attend to other damage at the corner of South and Whitehead streets, said Key West spokesperson Alyson Crean.

That coming work will require the shutdown of the area for about a year, barring access to the existing buoy.

The replica is being built and painted by Paul Cassidy and Richard Sarver of Key West’s Community Services Department.

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A work in progress shot of a replica Southernmost Buoy marker inside a work space in May 2025. Community Services’ Paul Cassidy is one of the people working on the temporary buoy while the park where the original sits undergoes repairs come late summer or early fall 2025.

“It is smaller, but still taller than a person,” Crean said. “The ocean will still be visible, but the temporary location is farther away from the ocean.”

Compose your camera shots just so, and your

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followers may not know the difference.

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A work in progress shot of a replica Southernmost Buoy marker inside a work space in May 2025. Community Services’ Paul Cassidy is one of the people working on the temporary buoy while the park where the original sits undergoes repairs come late summer or early fall 2025.

The temporary location?

The replica will be installed at the Duval Street Pocket Park at 1400 Duval St. That’s a block away from the original buoy, 90 miles from Cuba.

Will Key West keep both buoys for double the social media snaps?

That remains to be seen.

“Once it’s done,” Crean said, “I’m sure the city will do something fun with it.”

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