Town releases rendering of proposed new community pool

Jul 14, 2026 By Nathan Mayberg 3 min read

The proposed design for the new Bay Oaks Recreational Campus pool, to be replace the pool that was severely damaged by Hurricane Ian in 2022. Rendering provided

Nearly four years after Hurricane Ian severely damaged the Town of Fort Myers Beach community pool at the Bay Oaks Recreational Campus, the town has hired a design firm that has released preliminary renderings of what a replacement pool could look like.

The town recently released a copy of the rendering from the design firm Opulent. The company was chosen after a competitive procurement process that had been delayed. The project is being funded through a federal Community Development Block Grant.

The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council approved a $135,000 contract with the firm for the design.

Fort Myers Beach Public Information Officer Abigail Eberhart said “we’ve essentially been waiting for the hurricane recovery funding before moving forward. Without that funding, it would not have been fiscally prudent to proceed. Now that the funding has been secured, the project is moving ahead.”

Eberhart said that once the preliminary designs are complete, they will be presented to the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council for review. Town Council will determine whether the designs are acceptable based primarily on

whether they maintain the same footprint as the previous pool and whether they comply with the federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) requirements.

“Because the pool is being funded through hurricane recovery dollars, the project must meet CDBG-DR requirements. That means the overall footprint of the pool must remain substantially the same. Cosmetic and aesthetic improvements can be made, but the pool itself must retain the same general dimensions, including its width and depth, in order to remain eligible for funding,” Eberhart said.

The plans were recently discussed by the Bay Oaks Recreational Campus Advisory Board, where board member John Dussliere advocated for more depth in the pool, and to be configured to be able to rent out the pool to collegiate swim teams and other competitive swimming organizations.

Community Services Director Jeff Hauge has cautioned about making the pool deeper, and said there has been a challenge for the town in hiring lifeguards, and finding certified deep-water lifeguards. The town is planning to hire lifeguards to handle shallow water. Dussliere has argued for deeper water training for lifeguards. Hauge said the town staff in the past has had to take its lifeguards out of town to be trained.

Board chair Michelle Cherney said Dussliere’s plans to rent out the pool to swim teams needs more information and community feedback, as to how that may impact local usage of the pool.

If the Council approves the design for the new pool, the project will then move into the contractor procurement phase, where construction bids will be solicited, Eberhart said.

The foundation of the existing pool was found to be cracked after Hurricane Ian, and will need to be demolished and re-poured before a new pool can be constructed.

The existing pool “will need to be completely replaced,” Eberhart said.