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Boca Grande’s Historic District: Solving the Boca Grande building puzzle

■ BY SUSAN HANAFEE Skilled carpenters are in short supply. The price of materials is rising. Empty lots are disappearing. The easiest thing about building in Boca Grande’s Historic District these days may well be the process for obtaining permits. At least that’s the goal of the Lee County Community Development Department, which supervises renovation […]

Toll Booth construction update: Week 6

Contract Duration: 90 days from permit issue date of 9/29/17 The stucco subcontractor has been on site all week. Next week the metal roofs will be installed, and the toll plaza will be painted the following week. During active construction hours Monday-Friday, two on-island traffic lanes will remain open with the exception of material deliveries […]

Boca Grande medical doctors’ society to meet November 21

■ BY SUE ERWIN There is a great deal of knowledge that can be shared from well-known physicians who spend their winter months in Boca Grande. This organization includes doctors from the Boca Grande area who have been meeting informally to discuss various medical topics since the 1980s. Retired island doctors Daly Walker, Les Nash, Jim May […]

Profile John Prescott

■ BY SUE ERWIN John Prescott has been a certified financial planner for many years, and in the past he’s worked with several national corporations. But now he’s serving clients in Boca Grande with Italiano Insurance. Because of his working relationship with Nat and with Italiano Insurance Services over the years, John decided he wanted to spend more […]

Historic Board approves request to add pavilion shade at community center

■ BY SUE ERWIN The Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board on Wednesday morning unanimously approved a request to add a free-standing, covered pavilion over the outdoor concrete stage at the Boca Grande Community Center. The addition would be constructed in the north-side courtyard with the intention to provide shade, rain cover and acoustic enhancement. The fabric of […]

Boca Grande’s Historic District: Rises from the ‘Ashes’ of Hotel Hell

■ BY SUSAN HANAFEE When architect Rick Thurkow bought Boca Grande’s infamous “Hotel Hell” in 1986, he never dreamed he would be entering his own permitting purgatory. Before he finished his $150,000 renovation of the 70-year-old structure, Thurkow would spend two years “haggling with building and zoning officials” to get the approvals he needed. “Rick […]

GIBA roof repair update: Week 5

■ STAFF REPORT The three lower roofs are framed in, and the stucco subcontractor is working on the overhead roof. Question of the week: Why did you raise the roof of the toll plaza? Answer: The overhead replacement roof is the same height. Each of the lower three roofs was raised 2 1⁄2 feet for […]