Officials in Ocean Springs have learned that funding for a plan to redevelop the site where a replica of Fort Maurepas once stood is far short of its $1 million price tag.

Town aldermen were told this week that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would not provide $600,000 for the project because Mayor Connie Moran’s plan does not call for restoring the fort, which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina last year.

Moran wants to turn the site into a public park. She held a groundbreaking ceremony at the Front Beach location on Aug. 29, the one-year anniversary of Katrina.

In several public meetings held since April, Moran has told alderman and residents that FEMA would spend at least $600,000 to redevelop the site where the replica of the fort was destroyed during the hurricane.

At Tuesday’s regular board meeting, however, City Clerk Adrienne Howell told aldermen that FEMA has not approved the money.