Lynn Hall Park could open for parking on April 15th. The entire Lee County owned park and parking lot has been closed and untouched since September 28th when Hurricane Ian came through Fort Myers Beach.
Both interim Town Manager Keith Wilkins and Mayor Dan Allers have publicly mentioned a possible opening of April 15th but Lee County refuses to confirm that as a solid date.
On Monday we asked Lee County Communications Director Betsy Clayton if April 15th was a solid date, after hearing Wilkins bring it up at the Town Council meeting, she said, “No it is not.”
Clayton said, “There is not an announced reopening date for any of the county’s beach parks or beach park facilities. When county beach parks begin to re-open, it likely will happen in phases. Lee County Parks & Recreation has a Hurricane Ian Park Progress Map tool at www.leeparks.org. Coming openings will be announced there as well as on other Lee County website landing pages.”
The Lynn Hall Park bathrooms were totally destroyed by the hurricane. Lee County had just spent tens of thousands of dollars upgrading the facilities not ling before the storm.
The parking lot hasn’t been cleaned at all since the storm and there are still big debris piles sitting in the corner of the park.
A document with tentative dates has been circulating which is where the April 15th date came from. Here’s that document.
We walk the beach every morning and I noticed at least 10 town of FMB trash containers just laying around in Lynn Hall Park and at bowditch point. Seeing as these parks are closed at least for awhile can someone get these receptacles, clean them up and place them on old San Carlos Blvd and around the areas in town where they can actually be of use. There is one for all of old San Carlos Blvd. and it seems to get busier every week…☀️😊
Why is opening a park so important when there are so many other issues that need to be addressed on the island? Residents don’t have time to go to the beach or parks anyway, we’re still too busy cleaning and rebuilding our own homes and yards. 😩😢