Fort Myers Beach residents see Naples Pier work as an encouraging sign for the island

More than eight months after Hurricane Ian clear cut much of Fort Myers Beach, the community is gradually rebuilding, with several landmarks missing from the landscape.

"People come out to see what the beach looks like, they look around with hands on their hips and then they leave. Getting the pier back would revitalize the whole area," said Jacki Liszak, president of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce

The beach pier and the Times Square clock were wiped out by the storm. The clock is expected to be restored within the next few weeks, but the remnants of the pier are still cordoned off, unusable because of dangers caused by the hurricane.

Lee County has been assessing damages to public property, and determining what sort of restoration funds will be needed − and that includes the repairs and reconstruction that will return the pier on Fort Myers beach to its long-held status as an attraction to visitors and an important community symbol.

"Just the pilings sticking up is like a scar, emotionally, you look at that − visually our look at that − and it brings you down," Liszak said.

Originally built in the 1930s, Lee County took over management of the pier in the late 1940s. The county added a bathhouse in the 1950s and the concrete pier was installed in the bicentennial year of 1976.

It has become an iconic symbol for residents and a destination for tourists. The fishing pier extended 560 feet into the Gulf of Mexico and included a pavilion, bait shack and viewing spots for aquatic life.

"Families walking together, taking pictures, watching fishermen, watching pelicans, going and eating their ice cream," mused the chamber's Liszak, who noted that much of the island is still trying to recover. The pier is not essential to day-to-day life, but its reconstruction and reopening would be a major step for morale.

"We are going to be healing for years, we are still looking at debris piles, we are living on extension cords, piecemeal properties," Liszak said, adding that any sign that the reconstruction of the pier is near "gives you hope, it helps your mood."

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The announcement that the Naples pier will be restored provides some hope that the Fort Myers Beach counterpart will follow, even though no firm schedule for the work has been released.

"It gives you hope, there's talk of starting the process, talk about what it will look like," Liszak said.

Lee County has given a preliminary estimate that the repair of the pier and the bait facility on the site would come to $1.2 million. Matanzas bridge fishing pier work could consume another $300,000.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Planned Naples pier restoration has Fort Myers Beach hoping for same