Deadline looms: Cape Coral creates Yacht Club group to decide on parts kept for rebuild

Cape Coral is asking for long-time and new residents to share their thoughts on what parts of the Yacht Club to preserve, with a looming deadline of Friday.

The Cape Coral Yacht Club Community Park is the city's premier gemstone, but Hurricane Ian, a Category 5 storm, devastated the area on Sept. 28, leading to the park's closure and community contention on what will happen with the property.

The city first discussed the future of the Yacht Club in January when the council decided to take a "clean slate" approach to renovate the area and its facilities after Hurricane Ian paused the initial renovation plans.

The discussion led to the city announcing in May the demolition of all buildings in the Yacht Club area.

Despite opposition from residents and groups, including the historical society, hoping to preserve the main Yacht Club Ballroom building, the council approved an amended contract with Kimley Horn in June. The group will oversee "deconstructive preservation" of the buildings and site, permitting, bidding, and construction phase services.

Now the city is advertising a stakeholders group that residents can join to help determine what parts or elements to incorporate into the new building. City staff and the youth council will also comprise the group.

The survey submittal deadline is Friday, and they are seeking residents who have lived in Cape Coral for varying amounts of time.

If a large of applicants are received by the city, their names will enter a lottery, chosen at random.

The city will contact the winners, and the first meeting will be scheduled near the end of August.

A link to the survey site can be found here.

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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral creates Yacht Club stakeholder group