What the rebuilt Naples Pier could look like

The City of Naples has made some repairs to the pier, but they’re also talking about how to make it even stronger to withstand powerful storms.

Many ideas were thrown around on Wednesday, not only to repair and rebuild but also to upgrade the pier in general.

The city hopes to do the project in phases, opening up as much as possible as quickly as possible.

The good news is the stairs are now open, the first 100 feet of the pier are fixed, and so are the restrooms.

But forget about a stroll down the pier, which has many people anxious for this iconic structure to return to its former glory.

The nearly 135-year-old Naples pier was pristine, full of life, and the crowned jewel of Naples before Hurricane Ian.

“Yeah, usually this is kind of our point …our destination. We’ll head down from Naples, and it’s a nice couple-mile walk, and then we walked up here and watch the fisherman, and it’s always fun to see what they’re catching,” Naples resident Chuck Schwiesow said.

That isn’t the case after Wednesday because the pier is desolate and damaged.

The back end blasted off by the power of Hurricane Ian, leaving jagged pieces of wood and broken decks.

“It was devastating to see… it’s sad to see it in that condition,” Domenica Dominelli, a Naples resident said.

But it’s not lost; Naples is developing a plan to rebuild the pier better and stronger than ever.

The plan would help the pier withstand the next storm.

The city showed some of the renderings of what the pier might look like when it’s rebuilt.

Elevating the pier to create more structural resilience, creating ‘bump out’ areas for benches for crowd control, expanding the dining area, and widening the stairs.