Effort to restore Fort Myers Beach’s arches gathers momentum
Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches, Inc. has just made unprecedented progress with the county. On May 21, Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches spokesperson Ron Corbett spoke at the Lee County Board of County Commissioners meeting. This was the group’s third attempt with commissioners since 2016, but this time, Corbett received a positive response.
“I’ve lived here since 1972,” said Corbett. “The arches were just a part of my life and one of my first memories of the area.”
“I was really nervous about it. While I was giving the presentation, I could see smiles on people’s faces, and I just thought that was really neat. It was such a positive response that I almost wasn’t registering it,” said Corbett.
At the meeting, Lee County Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass vowed that the county would get this done. Lee County is set to schedule a meeting among commissioners to discuss restoring the arches and is planning to continue working with the group.
“Everybody wants to see it happen,” said Pendergrass. “There’s still a lot of things to figure out like who would build it, who would maintain it. We just want to make sure everything is done correctly, and it’s maintained.”
“I look forward to the group coming together and talking to our staff to see what is possible,” said Pendergrass. “I was born and raised here; I remember going to the arches back in the ’60s.”
“The arches were pretty special to people who lived here back then,” said the president of Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches, Steven McDonald. “You had to drive through them to get to the beach. It was like a gateway to a good time.”
According to McDonald, in 1979 when the arches were destroyed, then Lee County commissioner Roland Roberts had reached an agreement to save the arches and move them to the county park. The bridge contractor had agreed to spare them and have his sub move them. McDonald said that the word didn’t get to the sub soon enough. The sub knocked them down with a wrecking ball shortly before word got to him.
“What we’re trying to do is finish what they tried to do in 1979 – and that’s protect the arches.”