Council gives green light to Fort Myers Beach Mobile App
A series of ideas could help enhance the tourist experience on Fort Myers Beach.
Members of the Community Resources Advisory Board held a joint session with Fort Myers Beach Town Council last Thursday to discuss the development of a town app, brochure, and public art that could help direct tourists to sites of interest around the island and teach them about history and the environment.
The app idea was popular.
CRAB member Becky Weber said many municipalities have developed their own apps.
“One of the nice things we can do is link it right back to the town’s website,” she said.
Bill Veach, chair of CRAB, said they also would like to develop informative signs positioned at key locations around town that could include a barcode that would prompt people to download the town’s app.
“For example, if you go up to the Mound House, you can have a little QR code, and it can bring up all the information about the Mound House and get people interested in it without a lot of time or money,” he said.
“I’ve envisioned it wherever the tourists land, pay stations, trolley stops…or where there’s an interest.”
Weber told council that the app would cost “in the arena of a couple thousand dollars.”
In addition to the app, Veach said they would also like to develop an informational brochure in the style of the National Parks System to tell the environmental story of the island.
This idea was more controversial, considering the waste that could be created.
“I like the brochure because I like to tangibly hold something. I’m not an app person…but I also understand not wanting to have all the trash,” Mayor Tracey Gore said.
“We do have a pretty old population here, and a lot of them are probably not as (tech) savvy…That’s part of the attraction of a brochure. This is more of a branding exercise for the island, where you control the message entirely. It tells the environmental story, too,” said Veach.
His hope is that more education can lead to better conservation.
“When people care about something, they’ll work to protect it. It sets a better image out for the island than just a place to come and party,” he said.
Vice Mayor Joanne Shamp felt quality needed to be considered.
“I think it could be an asset, but it has to be very carefully developed, on the level that the National Park Service does it. Once you develop that, you could link it to the app,” she said.
A third idea put forth to help brand the town was a set of connected but “whimsical” statues at strategic points around the island that could help tell the history of Fort Myers Beach.
CRAB used Wroclaw, Poland as an example: the city contains a series of dwarf statues that tell the story of the revolution that ended the Cold War.
“I think that conceptually could be really fun to tie in the history and the art together,” said Shamp.
Town Manager Roger Hernstadt questioned the cost, and the lack of a recognizable symbol for the town.
“We’re still sort of looking for the iconic Fort Myers Beach symbol that when you see it, if you’ve ever been here, you know by virtue of that symbol, it’s Fort Myers Beach,” he said.
Council recently directed Hernstadt to being negotiating a contract with DRMP to redesign Times Square, Bayfront Park, and the parcel in front of Bay Oaks, tying them all together with some kind of cohesive design.
In the meantime, CRAB will begin working on the specs for the town’s app.
“We’ll come up with a list of what we want to have on our maps, what features we want it to have, things like ‘find the nearest bathroom’ or ‘what’s going on now’, and then maybe color code things,” said Veach.