Two weeks after the new sign, with the new Fort Myers Beach logo, was installed at the base of the Matanzas Pass Bridge, it’s gone. The sign fell Saturday and had to be hauled off for repairs.
Town Manager Roger Hernstadt tells Beach Talk Radio News, “Crews from LD Lee Lighting were on the scene Sunday removing the sign for repair. They said it was a failure in the mounting structure & design that caused it to collapse. No intentional act or foul play.”
Town Public Information Officer Jenny Dexter told Beach Talk Radio News, “There is no timeframe for repair and reinstall yet.”
We asked the three new candidates running for Town Council what their thoughts were on the sign collapsing so soon after being installed.
John King said, “It looked nice while it was up. I certainly hope the Town doesn’t have to pay for the repair and reinstallation. I’d like to know more about the design issue that led to collapse.”
Karen Woodson said, “I was so excited to see the new sign and was looking forward to possibly moving the benches to see it even better. I’m not sure who had the final approval of the design, engineering, manufacturing and installation, but I trust that LD Lee Lighting is a reputable company and will repair and replace the damaged sign at no additional cost.”
Patrick Romcoe: “It is very unfortunate that the beautiful welcome sign to Fort Myers Beach had fallen over due to poor construction and possibly design. I hope that this incident is an indicator to ask the questions to the Town Manager as to, how can this happen, and what processes are being used to manage these projects? Was there a design flaw in the drawing that was pre-approved? We need to ask why and how this happened so that we can make sure this and other projects do not have the same result or become a safety issue for the public. My final question for the Town Manager would be, was the project being managed and evaluated with the same due diligence and scrutiny as they would a project by the citizens or businesses of this town? It is unfortunate however, maybe it is an indicator to a deeper issue that we need to evaluate before and after the November elections.”
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