Newton Park receives official ribbon cutting
The long-standing former residence of the late Jim and Ellie Newton officially became the first town-owned public park on Fort Myers Beach Monday.
Newton Park at 4650 Estero Blvd. broke ground with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9 a.m. on July 12.
“This is a long-time-coming event,” said FMB Mayor Larry Kiker in his opening words. “This property has had a lot of potential over the years. It was not an attractive piece of property 3 1/2 years ago.”
Kiker, the Master of Ceremonies, explained the long process of changing the property from residence to park as a “code enforcement nightmare.” In 2009, Newton Park was termed an historic, award-winning project.
“This is a place where businesses and community groups can come to meet but, most importantly, this is a place where families and friends can gather and create memories,” said Kiker. “We’re very, very proud of it.”
Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau Executive Director Tammy Pigott
filled in for Lee County Board of County Commissioners Chairwoman Tammy Hall at the ceremony.
“Any time we can offer additional beach access within our community it is a benefit to everyone within the community,” she said. “On behalf of Lee County, congratulations to the town on this big opening today.”
Lee County Tourist Development Council Vice Chair Roxie Smith and fellow TDC Member Fran Myers, who is also a co-founder for the Uncommon Friends Foundation, followed Pigott.
“This ribbon cutting this morning represents the fulfillment of a long-time dream of the Newtons,” said Smith. “That dream was that all residents of the island would be able to enjoy this property.”
“On April 16, 1994, Uncommon Friends Foundation was born in this house,” said Myers about the Seven Seas building. “Great people have created the ideals that the Uncommon Friends Foundation was founded on.”
Theresa Schober, the Town’s Director of Cultural Resources, has been involved with the work and planning of the Newton Park project since 2006.
“Since that time, there have been dozens and dozens of community meetings and town council meetings to make final decisions about this particular property,” she said. “It is now ready for everybody to enjoy.”
Schober referred to Jim Newton’s catch phrase, “The best has yet to be,” when discussing the property.
“We have great hopes that the Seven Seas building facility where the Newtons had many friends and internationally known persons gather will continue to serve in that same capacity,” she said. “We’ll be offering a variety of cultural and environmental programs throughout the year, so that the property will really have a new life but in the same vein as its historical one.”
Other ceremony guests included FMB Town Council members, Town Manager Terry Stewart, FMB Chamber of Commerce President John Albion and 2010 Chamber Chair Andrew Cochrane, Cultural and Environmental Learning Center Advisory Board members, Maddox Construction’s Jeff Maddox, former Beach Mayor Ray Murphy and Uncommon Friends Foundation Director Arlene Roth.
History of Newton Park
According to town documents, the Town purchased the nearly one-acre beach-front property in 2003 for $2.5 million with the bulk of the funding coming from a grant from Florida Communities Trust and contributing funds from Lee County such as the Tourist Development Council.
Work began in July of 2004 with the removal of exotic plants. The expectations for opening the park sometime in the fall were crushed by the destruction caused by Hurricane Charley. The project was put on hold after that island-wide storm.
After determining that repairing the house was too costly, the town tried to sell the home, but couldn’t find a buyer. Due to storm damage, the cottage garage and the elevated caretaker’s suite were torn down upon council approval.
According to town documents, in November of 2004, council members voted to move the house -Seven Seas (where Jim and Ellie Newton lived until their deaths)- to an area near the Beach Elementary School and use the cottage on the north end of the property as a possible museum.
Apparently, the property and structures remained intact. When FMB Mayor Larry Kiker took office in 2006, he decided to make it a priority.
In June of 2007, Council members struggled with how to develop the park and discussed offering the property back to Florida Communities Trust.
In January of 2009, Fort Myers Beach Mayor Larry Kiker unveiled a new portable rest room at Newton Park and town officials discussed a new landscape plan for the property.
The park’s design has all the authorized amenities envisioned by the late land owner Newton before selling his property to the Town of Fort Myers Beach.
On Feb. 10, 2009, the Historic Preservation Board moved applications to designate Newton House – Seven Seas – and relocate and/or demolish the Newton Cottage.
Since the beginning of 2009, the Newton Park project has undergone many changes including the addition of a portable rest room (now a permanent indoor bathrooms facility), new landscaping with native plants and dune plantings, a paid parking lot, picnic tables, a bocce ball court and a chickee hut. It is funded by the Tourist Development Council and the Town of Fort Myers Beach.
At that time, the annual cost of running Newton Beach Park was reported to be roughly $15,000. That figure was expected to be added to capital reserves in the town budget.