Popular Bokeelia restaurant demolished following damage from Milton

There was hope for Captain Con’s Fish House in Bokeelia after the damage from Hurricane Helene in September.

• RELATED: Community comes together to help Bokeelia fish house

That hope was crushed after Hurricane Milton’s destruction in October. On Sunday, the long-time Bokeelia restaurant was demolished.

Luretta Wilson is the owner of Captain Con’s Fish House. She said that many people have assisted her during the process.

“People are just showing up and helping out in so many different ways,” said Wilson. “It’s just been a miracle.”

The demolition is changing the face of Bokeelia. Dozens have driven by in shock at its aftermath. The longtime staple of Bokeelia and beloved local restaurant took a beating from storm after storm.

The Bokeelia community rallied together and even helped them return after Helene, but it was short-lived.

The owner of the building, who is not the owner of the restaurant, decided enough is enough.

Wilson started working at Captain Con’s fish house 45 years ago as a cook. She worked her way to the owner for the past 29 years. And on Monday, she wanted everyone to remember what it was.

“From Paris and everywhere, and it’s like, what? What what. And then I think, well, how did y’all find us? Oh, people at the airport told us to come here, you know, and it’s just, it’s just amazing all the people and the different people that we had coming here,” Wilson said.

From weddings to Halloween and Christmas parties, to adult easter egg hunts, to the eclipse and karaoke, captain con’s in Bokeelia has seen and done it all.

The 120-year-old building and longtime staple survived decades of memories and numerous storms. Wilson said she is sad to see it go.

“I knew it had to happen, but I wasn’t expecting it yesterday. I thought somebody might give us a heads up when it might happen,” Wilson said.

Wilson even got married at Captain Con’s. She’s grateful to all who have supported her over the years.

“There was times we didn’t think we would make it, but we ended up hanging in there for 29 years. So we did something right, somewhere along the line, you know,” Wilson said.

Imagine Linda Raimondi surprise when she came on Monday to eat lunch, only to find it in its current state, torn up.

“Home cooked, very good. Good service. Just been here forever, and it’s, it’s not pretentious. That’s the prop. That’s the thing we liked about it. You could just come dressed anyway,” Raimondi said.

Wilson said she’s gotten so much love as the news has spread throughout Southwest Florida.

“I want to thank everyone who has supported us over the years,” Wilson said.

While she’s devastated, she’s not going away. She said she’s going to keep selling her pies and, eventually, clam chowder which you can find on Facebook if you search Captain Con’s Fish House.