On Tuesday Lee County Commissioner David Mulicka reported to the full Board of Commissioners that one year has been shaved off the time it will take to build the new Fort Myers Beach pier. He said it will now be completed by August of 2027 rather than the Summer of 2028.
The Fort Myers Beach pier, and the Lynn Hall Park restroom facilities, were totally destroyed on September 29, 2022 by Hurricane Ian. Lee County owns the pier and the park. The new pier will be 1,000 feet long and 12 feet wide. That’s 71% longer and 50% wider than the pier destroyed by the storm.
The Board of County Commissioners approved over $17 million to build the longer and wider pier back in June of 2024. $11 million for the project will come from Tourist Development Council reserve funds. The balance will be paid by FEMA.
The project is currently in the design and permitting phase and construction is anticipated to begin in late 2026. Commissioner’s and the public have voiced their frustrations with the amount of time it takes for projects like these to complete. Even if the shorter time-frame does pan out it will have taken a full 5 years to build the new pier. Mulicka also reported that it takes up to 16 months to get permitting from The Army Corps of Engineers.
There is no time-frame yet as to when the public will be able to see renderings of the pier.
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Don’t need it as a tourist attraction, with WAK approving double allowable density for all the new developments there will be plenty of people on the island to support the businesses.
I have been coming here for 19 years and have never seen the pier filled with people. most people walk out to the end and return.
It seems like a great wast e of money to create this monster.
How about installing lots of benches all the way out on both sides? Us fossils need to rest too.
I agree. It was always full of trash and people fishing.
The remnants of the pier looks a lot better than the flee market dump that Times Square is.
Only the government could take years to replace a pier, at such a high cost, that’s been there for years. Hopefully Trump will be able to do away with some of this absurd stuff
This is a total waste of money! That money should have gone to homeowners/businesses still trying to rebuild from Ian. The old pier only had tourists on it during peak season. The rest of the year, 9 months, it was basically empty. Total was of money!
Don’t care about the money. The timeline is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard !
Permitting, Design phase ? Can someone please put pressure on the County and designers ? You can build a 50 story high rise in that time period !
Remember when Cape Coral closed the marina and sat on their arses because they failed to get permits timely.
And why is the Ft Myers Yacht Basin still closed and in disrepair- Multi million dollar facility sitting idle- and hurting the marine recreation biz
Hope it shaved off a lot of money too!
So what changed that shaved off a whole year?