Fort Myers will develop Caloosahatchee River island into public beach park

Bill Smith, Fort Myers News-Press
Updated ·4 min read
Legacy Island, also known as Clint's Island or Rat Island, is set to become a park. It is in the Caloosahatchee River just east of the Edison Bridge in Fort Myers.
Legacy Island, also known as Clint's Island or Rat Island, is set to become a park. It is in the Caloosahatchee River just east of the Edison Bridge in Fort Myers.

Offshore swimming on the Caloosahatchee River may become an actual, government-sanctioned, thing to do in the not-to-distant future.Fort Myers City Council voted recently to spend $825,000 to begin work of fulfilling its promise to create a beach park on a man-made, off-shore island between Fort Myers and North Fort Myers

Known as Legacy Island Park, it will include a bit of nostalgia for some residents and visitors as it reflects a 2018 compromise over ownership of a land parcel that included space the city wanted as the site of the luxury 12-story Luminary & Co. Hotel facing the river from across Edwards Drive

The 2.5-acre island was created out of dredging work done several decades ago. Over time an overgrowth of trees and other plants came to occupy the island surface. The man-made island became an attractive nuisance with the rat population of the river and environs seeking refuge on the island.

The islet was named Legacy Island Park after the Fort Myers City Council agreed to create a beach to resolve a dispute over construction of the hotel, which overlooks the river from 2200 Edwards Drive.

More: From potential groundbreakings to golf suites: Updates on four downtown Fort Myers hotels

More: Luminary Hotel in Fort Myers earns global award for community service after Hurricane Ian

Some Lee County residents claimed that the hotel site belonged to descendants of John Morgan Dean, a Rhode Island native who became one of the first land developers in Fort Myers.

Legacy Island, also known as Clint's Island or Rat Island, is set to become a park. It is in the Caloosahatchee River just east of the Edison Bridge in Fort Myers. The Beau Rivage, St. Tropez and Riviera condo buildings rise in the background.
Legacy Island, also known as Clint's Island or Rat Island, is set to become a park. It is in the Caloosahatchee River just east of the Edison Bridge in Fort Myers. The Beau Rivage, St. Tropez and Riviera condo buildings rise in the background.

Wills from the early 20th century, filed in Lee County and Rhode Island, were sufficiently vague to raise claims of ownership of the property from the city of Fort Myers and a group of Dean's descendants. The dispute was resolved when a compromise was worked out by the city, which wanted the hotel built as part of an effort to expand the lure of the city water front.

The city agreed to create a unique island beach on the river celebrating Dean's status as one of the county's early home builders. Creating the beach an agreement to recognize the Dean family's place in developing residential and commercial space along the river.

One of Dean's first developments was near the waterfront, a housing community on the inland side of First Street. He named the neighborhood Dean Park and named several of the streets after cities in his native Rhode Island.

Beach construction was delayed for a couple of years while the city, which owns the island, worked with the Army Corps of Engineers, which holds a permanent easement giving it the right to use the island.

Two contractors bid on the contract to create a park on the island, but both backed away during the flurry of Hurricane Ian-related construction.

Now, Mettauer Environmental of Alva has been awarded the contract to develop the site. The contract was approved by the council on Monday, and the company was on the site the next day. Mettauer will stabilize the island shoreline needed to create the planned beach, as well as walking trails and other amenities.

How Fort Myers must do its share to create the river's Legacy Island Park

  • Legacy Island Park is a beach and a public park − That means picnic benches, pavilions and amenities seen in other Fort Myers city parks will eventually be available. Funding comes from the Lee County Tourist Development fund, according to the city. A total cost hasn't been released.

  • Security − Public beach access with security cameras and police monitoring to deter possible vandalism or illegal activity.

  • Access points − docks will be environmentally sound, and require improvements below the high water mark to seek approval from governmental authorities.

  • Interpretive trail − lined with tree trunk border and covering 2,700 square feet.

  • Amenities − offered include two upland gazebos, a four-slip dock, and a paddle craft landing and launch area.

  • Under the agreement with the Dean descendants, the city must create a marker describing how the the island's name became Legacy Island.

  • Original plans for Legacy Island called for completion by Oct. 11, 2020, but pushed back due to Army Corps review requirements and Hurricane Ian.

  • Delays in creating the island beach have meant increasing costs. The city's $500,000 investment escalated to $825,000, with future investment still to-be-determined.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers to build new public beach, park