New renderings for the Cape Coral Yacht Club promise a bright future

The Cape Coral Yacht Club is being torn down piece by piece and is rising from the debris like a phoenix, an icon reborn.

Following terrible damage from Hurricane Ian, community members expressed sorrow as they reminisced on some of the good times they’ve had at the Yacht Club. While others expressed excitement for what’s to come after the demolition is complete.

The Cape Coral Yacht Club has been part of this community since the 1960s. It will now have a new look after Ian’s devastating effects.

Here are a few renderings of what’s to come: more boat slips, a parking garage, a pool, a new restaurant and more.

We spoke to Richard Fox, estimator and project manager for extreme demolition and land clearing.
He showed us his progress on the project.

“Behind us, you can see the ballroom — what’s left standing of the main ballroom; we’ve already demolished the outdoor buildings, the bathrooms for the pool. The pool is still in place, but that will be removed [from] all office buildings and the kiddie pool as well,” Fox said.

Knocking down walls may look easy, but Fox said there’s more to it in this case.

“One of the challenges on this project is the sentiment that it has with a lot of the local residents around here,” Fox said.

Some of the demolition team’s crew members grew up going to the yacht club and understand its sentimental value.

“There were children that are probably in their 40s now who grew up coming here for summer days, hanging out on the weekends with their friends. There is a lot of history in that, and we understand the impact it has,” Fox said.

The demolition team decided to mix a little bit of the old with the new and scouted the rubble for precious artifacts.

“We’ve actually got some salvage items that were taken care of in the ballroom. We were doing all the structural stuff, so we’re taking some of the main beams that you can see behind us, as well as some of the stone that they had in there. We plan to put them in storage and somehow implement them in the new facility as requested by some of the residents,” Fox said.

The demolition is expected to take anywhere from four to six weeks.

Once the demolition process is complete, construction will start on the new yacht club, which will include a new community center, ballroom and additional parking for boat owners.

A public hearing to discuss details about the redesign is set for Tuesday, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Mercola Market.  

To learn more about the city’s plan for the new Cape Coral Yacht Club, click here.