By now everyone on Fort Myers Beach has seen pictures of a proposal to rebuild Beach Baptist Church. Those plans include an 8-story condo building and 36 workforce housing units on the 3.5 acre piece of property. A meeting is being held Thursday at 3 to show off the plan. Beach Baptist Pastor Shawn Critser sent us this message to share with you.
(By Pastor Shawn Critser) “On Thursday, May 25, 2023, from 3PM-6PM, Beach Baptist Church of Ft. Myers Beach will be holding a community open house to discuss its plans for the reconstruction of its property and what the ministry will look like at that location for the next several decades.
“In the weeks following Hurricane Ian, I reached out to a close group of friends to help me consider what the future of Beach Baptist Church would look like. It was my, and the congregation’s desire to create a plan showing how the ministry would continue at this location for years to come. I involved my long-time friend, Aaron Coe, who runs a ministry-based consulting firm, Future City Now, to help me envision what this plan would look like. We made it clear that in addition to regular church activities, the church wanted to be a part of the community by providing workforce housing, walkable retail and other community facing benefits.
“In order to help the church conceptualize this plan, Steve Collins, of S.J. Collins Enterprises, an Atlanta-based developer and Aaron Forther of Canvas Planning, a city planner, were brought in to advise the church on the plan. So far, these concepts have been discussed at a high level with members of the congregation and some members of the community. The community open house this Thursday will be a forum to gain feedback from members of the community who wish to provide it. The team from Future City Now, S.J. Collins, and Canvas Planning will be in attendance with me and our team to answer any questions the community may have.”
Beach Talk Radio will broadcast the presentation portion of the meeting live on Thursday which begins at 3PM.