Progress continues for Legacy Island development in Fort Myers

Smoke filled the air over the Caloosahatchee River on Monday, but this is actually a sign of progress.

The City of Fort Myers began to transform Legacy Island, formerly known as Clint’s Island, or Rat Island, into a destination spot this week.

And it now has residents excited about it’s future.

“I think it’s exciting,” said Mckenna Wherry, a Fort Myers resident. “I grew up here, I grew up sailing. And so we would actually go visit this island.”

“It’s just begging for it,” Adam Summerville said, another resident of Fort Myers. “So I think that’s a fantastic idea.”

The city’s plans are to make it a public park for boaters, with walking trails, a dock, an observation platform and a beach on the island.

And it’s exactly what the city hoped to create there – a new legacy. As Hurricane Ian damaged much of the island.

“Especially with the marina right now kind of down, it’ll be in a cool new aspect to just get people back out on the water enjoying the ocean or in the river,” Wherry said. “I think it’ll just build out our boating community here.”

But it took almost 4 years for some kind of development to begin. With COVID, Ian and a lawsuit the city had to wrap up in order for the Luminary Hotel to be standing where it is now.

The park was essentially a compromise to distant relatives of the family who originally owned the land where the hotel was built, as the original deed states that the property could never be used for commercial purposes.

That was until the family waived the restrictions once the city offered to build Legacy Island Park back in 2018.

And it’s now something to look forward to.

“It’s just exciting to see the progress in this area, that things keep evolving and growing even after the hurricane, that it didn’t just pause growth,” said Wherry.

“I would love to visit the island,” Summerville said. “It’s been a little rough, but glad to see progress.”