Naples getting closer to repairing parts of the Gulf Shore Blvd. N seawall

After years in court and hundreds of thousands of tax dollars, the City of Naples is one step closer to fixing the 40-year-old seawalls on Gulf Shore Boulevard North.

After all those years, the seawall is not up to the job anymore.

“I’ve lived on Gulf Shore Boulevard since 1999 and I can say in that entire period of time I’ve watched the seawall and the sidewalk deteriorate,” said David Feight of Naples.

Pete Lawyer, President of the Venetian Bay Yacht Club Condominium Association said, “there are tripping hazards all over the place, there is the threat of imminent collapse on the part that we’re talking about. It is not a situation that I think the city should allow to persist.”

And the City of Naples knows it.

“There are a couple of areas of concern where we’ve had to pull pedestrians away from the seawall because the seawall is failing. And those are areas of immediate interest to get into repair,” said The Director of the Streets and Stormwater Department for the City of Naples, Gregg Strakaluse.

The question of who is responsible for repairs cost the City of Naples hundreds of thousands of tax dollars in court.

A judge issued the final answer in May, ruling it’s the city’s job to do it. Now Naples is taking action.

Strakaluse said, “we’ve made progress. And we have a path forward to making this permanent repair.”

First, they will focus on the most damaged portion of the over 3,200-foot seawall.

On Monday, engineers presented several options to the city council.

City leaders decided on what engineers called the most environmentally-conscious option that will preserve marine life along the wall. It has a very tentative price tag of $900,000.