Written by Guest Columnist on . Posted in News.
Was Warren Harding one of our worst presidents? Next week, you can decide! On Wednesday, Nov. 8, historian Ryan Walters will give us a chance to reconsider the historically poor opinion of our 29th president when he presents his book, The Jazz Age President: Defending Warren Harding, at the Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium at […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News.
Back in July of 1967, the headline in the News-Press of Fort Myers was, “What to Do About Eroded Tip of Boca Grande.”
Then, as now, islanders were looking to beach nourishment to help prevent erosion on the southern tip of Gasparilla Island. At that time, the Boca Grande Conservation Council, headed by Homer Addison of The Temptation, was in favor of establishing a park at the tip of the island, as the Lighthouse was for sale from the Coast Guard through the General Services Administration. It seemed an ideal solution; the only challenge being the “erosion problem.”
Six decades later, the issue of erosion, while not fixed, is regularly addressed through a mix of federal, local and tourist tax monies. Gasparilla, and indeed all of the Gulf of Mexico islands in Florida, are under regular schedules for replenishment. But what is also a challenge is the flooding at the tip of the island, which hit the south end’s streets and historic buildings during hurricanes Irma, Ian and Idalia.
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in Community.
As insurance issues and condominium assessments have cleared up, buyers and sellers have been getting a better picture of property values and what the upcoming property season will entail, both on island and off.
“There were so many unknowns,” said Olivia Jones of Parsley Baldwin Real Estate. “There was ‘unknown’ from insurance, from condos.”
She feels that we are now at the stage where “some of the unknowns are now known.”
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News.
Cabana Bay at … Boca Grande? Even though it’s at Rotonda Boulevard East? Well, why not. Gasparilla Road will apparently be home to this new RV park called Cabana Bay RV Resort by Boca Grande. The RV park will have entrances on both Gasparilla Road and Rotonda Boulevard East. This was approved by the Charlotte […]
Written by Garland Pollard on . Posted in News.
Boca Grande will soon have a new excursion boat visitor, the “Miss Elissa,” courtesy of the Punta Gorda-based King Fisher Fleet.
“Miss Elissa,” commissioned by King Fisher Fleet and built by Scarano Boatbuilding of Albany, N.Y., will be launched this week. She will hit the Hudson River and begin her trek down to Florida for the Christmas season.
Currently, Boca Grande is served by the King Fisher Fleet’s “Charlotte Lady” or the “Helen M.” The King Fisher line offers regularly scheduled excursions from Punta Gorda’s Fishermen’s Village. That seasonal service will resume Nov. 25. The line also offers charter excursions from Boca Grande.
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Columns, Entertainment.
Aries: It is entirely possible that your paranoid nature will pay off this week. Your cell phone, your computer and your car have all broken in one form or fashion, not to mention you’re camping indoors, listening to the sounds of flapping tarp and banging metal all night. If you feel like this is all […]
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in Community, News.
Pioneer Plaza, on Dearborn Street in Old Englewood, has become a gathering place for singers, actors, artists and dancers, thanks to the imaginative design of Sydney Martin, a lover of the arts in all forms.
Sydney is the founder of The Art Colony of Englewood, which started as a way for artists to show and sell their creations, but it has blossomed into much more.
“The Art Colony is beginning its second season,” Sydney said. “Last season we had eight artist galleries, having shows from December to April, and one dinner concert, which was in April. This season we will have 14 permanent outdoor galleries, and the season will run from October to April.
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Editorial.
By now you’ve probably already read the story on the front page about how the Lee County Hearing Examiner announced her ruling in favor of the property owner at 161 Gilchrist Avenue. Discussion about this particular Certificate of Appropriateness at the Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board meeting last spring was supposed to center around the proposed home with a plan for both 161 and 181 Gilchrist Avenue, which are the two lots the property owner purchased together. They apparently could not be combined intAo one strap number at the time, due to one being contributing (the one in front, where the old cottage used to be) and one that was noncontributing (the parcel with the home, Gulf side).
There might be a lot of people angry about that decision, and many of those people will give the argument that the proposed home is “too big.” Those people will also more than likely bring up the Whispering Bench, a round seating area that was located on the Gulf front parcel, a seating area with particular acoustics that allowed a person to just barely whisper at one end of the circle but amplified that whisper so everyone in the circle could hear it clearly. It was a parlor trick bench that Louise du Pont Crowninshield had built back in the 1920s, because she thought other benches of the sort that she had seen were pretty cool. She wanted one, she had one built by a rather famous architect, and her guests enjoyed it until she was gone. After that the property had different owners prior to the current property owner, ending with the Sligar family who built the existing house there.
None of those property owners felt the need to call attention to any special qualities or historic significance of the Whispering Bench.
At the meeting in the spring when the proposal for a new home at 161/181 Gilchrist Avenue was presented, there were a lot of people there. Most of them came to hear what was going to happen to the Whispering Bench. It wasn’t on the agenda, and it wasn’t up for discussion, because in the eyes of Lee County or anyone looking at the existing structures and features on the two lots, there was only one that was listed as a historically contributing structure – a small cottage that stood next to the sidewalk by Gilchrist Avenue.
So why were so many people there on behalf of the Whispering Bench? As anyone knows who has lived in a small town, word gets around quickly. The word that had been going around was that the Whispering Bench was going to be demolished if the new house plan passed, and everyone wanted to have their say about it. Who knows who started the chatter, and who knows why it was suddenly determined that the Whispering Bench was something that needed to be saved at that very moment in time? But the people were there, the faces were frowning, and the folks who came to support the C of A for the new house had a big job in front of them.
As you might have guessed by this point in the story, the Whispering Bench had already eclipsed discussion surrounding the plan for the proposed home, even before the meeting was called to order. Decisions had already been made in people’s minds that they had to do whatever it took to make sure that Whispering Bench wasn’t destroyed. And if that meant denying a proposal to make it happen … oh well.
Written by Sheila Evans on . Posted in News.
As regulars return to the island, town retailers are bouncing back after a difficult year. “The best store on the island is open again!” said Ashli Price, manager of Aqua Boutique on Park Avenue. She is not looking back. While the building had been closed since Ian, Aqua hosted a number of “pop up” sales […]
Written by Marcy Shortuse on . Posted in Columns, Entertainment.