Once history is gone, it is gone forever
To the editor:
I couldn’t help but notice the FMB Town Government sitting in front of the Arches on the cover of another island newspaper. We always like to remind ourselves of that era. Next year FDOT plans to put in a traffic light at the corner of San Carlos and Main Street. We are being told this action would preclude Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches, Inc. from accomplishing the goal of returning the historic legendary Arches over the road at the base of the bridge very near where they stood over half a century.
It also occurred to me that the remains of those Arches on the cover and our earliest history have been sitting in a yard for 39 years. It is the monuments of a community that defines us. Sadly, our monuments are painted on the walls behind the town council. While the Town Government sits in front of them daily, we do not have the political support to have our project looked at by FDOT (Before that traffic light is installed).
When Tom Phillips put his first bridge in at Matanzas Pass there were four houses on Estero Island (one of those can be seen on Bay Street). He dug a canal behind Crescent Street and began selling cottage plots. When the great Miami hurricane hit our area in 1926, Tom Phillips replaced his first bridge on his own dime with a used swing bridge. He built structures all over our area including the Arches and Bell Tower. His last remaining forgotten structure is on the west end of Main Street. Once that history is gone it is gone forever.
The Arches predate San Carlos Island, the swing bridge, Hurricane Pass, Hurricane Bay, San Carlos Blvd, and San Carlos gets its name from the housing development Tom Phillips created San Carlos on the Gulf. So as many say they want to save them, our actions speak differently. We hope to change that before it is too late.
So we’re planning 3D imaging and paying for dimension data obtained from that imaging that will allow us to determine what is left of our beloved Arches and how we can use it. We hope to be able to take that information and put it in a generic structural engineering plan that will allow us to put the Arches on 4-lane divided portion of San Carlos Blvd with a median.
We have started a petition to Lee County BOCC and the Assistant Manager to request FDOT looks into the feasibility of returning the Arches that they tore down in 1979. Any Arch over San Carlos Blvd (which was favored by 70 percent of those polled) would require FDOT to look into to our Project. Yet, we struggle for petition signatures. Maybe we don’t want them back over the road? The only cost is overhead to FDOT and council to look project.
If you don’t want the Arches built on private property, and/or on the side of the road somewhere (Not on FDOT roadways); we need to have this Lee County/FDOT bye-off. I mean, we could return our legendary Arches to the side of the road, but those would not be our Arches. Let’s bring back a part of our past for the future to enjoy. See us at RESTORETHEARCHES.COM and/or on Facebook “Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches”. and sign our petition. We are a privately funded 501(c)3 San Carlos Neighborhood Association committed to the return of the iconic glamorous front door to FMB “The FMB Arches” 1924-1979.
We could be unique among the many beach communities as we were before. We could have an Arch bigger, taller, wider that looks like our once signature Arches. We could give the tourist and our citizens back the most photographed item in Fort Myers prior to 1979. It was the Jem of San Carlos. We could give our town back its sense of community and belonging. Rock The Arches!! Sign the Petition.
Steven Ray McDonald
President, Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches, Inc.