Cape Coral's Yacht Club Beach is open, how will renovations affect its availability?
Now that the Cape Coral Yacht Club Beach is reopened, how will surrounding construction hinder access to the sand and waves?
City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn said the city has come up with a plan to keep the area open when they start demolishing the Yacht Club facilities.
Hurricane Ian battered the Southwest Florida coast on Sept. 28, 2022, particularly slamming into the Yacht Club property, closing all the facilities for months. The area slowly is reopening, with the Boathouse restaurant reopening in July and the beach officially opening on Saturday.
"So we think we've got it positioned strategically where we can do that work and allow the residents and tourists to still come here and enjoy the beach," Ilczyszyn said.
Here's what we know:
Cape Coral Yacht Club renovations explained
The city had planned in early 2022 to close the park for two years for renovations that included replacing the seawalls and marina wet slips, replacing the harbormaster building and boat ramp, and building a three-story parking garage and beach restrooms. The beach would also be expanded, and utilities relocated.
Then Hurricane Ian struck, delaying plans, and shuttering the beach for more than a year.
During their January winter retreat, Cape Coral Council Members decided to take a "clean slate" approach to renovate the facilities, which included demolition of all the facilities.
Related The Cape Coral Yacht Club Beach is now open: Officials and residents rejoice.
More on the Yacht Club Cape Coral making major changes to the Yacht Club Community Park
Demolition of the main Yacht Club buildings
The buildings that will be demolished include the main ballroom building, the Tony Rotino Center, tennis courts, pool, and harbormaster.
"Our plan is either the end of December or beginning of January to start demolishing the buildings and all the additional site work that is still left but in disrepair," Ilczyszyn said.
Cape Coral's solution
Ilczyszyn said the city will leave up the fence around the Yacht Club's facilities and have the contractors staged behind them and away from the beach and its parking.
He said the parking by the harbormaster, parking near the Tony Rotino Center, and the rest of the spaces behind the Yacht Club building will be used by crews and unavailable to the public.
"There's going to (be construction-sized waste bins) and we're going to need the ability for tractor trailers that come in and haul that stuff away," Ilczyszyn said.
The parking spaces near the beach and The Boathouse restaurant will still be available for use, as well as the overflow parking near the entrance of the park.
"So we believe between this parking and all the parking up here, there'll be enough, we'll see how it goes," Ilczyszyn said. "If we need to make adjustments, we will do that."
Luis Zambrano is a Watchdog/Cape Coral reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. You can reach Luis at Lzambrano@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Lz2official.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: How will Cape Coral's beach be affected by Yacht Club demolition?
