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Civic Center management under review

Development proposal on the table but unlikely, two commissioners say

By CHUCK BALLARO - | Mar 4, 2021

Reports that the county-owned Lee Civic Center property in North Fort Myers might be sold and developed are, at best, premature, county officials said Thursday with some members of the Lee County Board of County Commissioners saying the site is not for sale.

The direction the county takes concerning the property that is the traditional home to the Lee County Fair may come at 1 p.m. Friday when a public evaluation meeting with county staff will be held to determine what proposal it will take to manage the civic center.

There are two submissions on the table, one from the Southwest Florida Lee County Fair Association, the other from Kitson & Partners, which would like to buy the 100-acre site and, with 62 acres they own adjacent, build a large-scale development to include a shopping center.

The commission could move forward with either or reject both proposals and have staff start over.

The meeting, to be held at the Lee County Public Works Building at 2115 Second St. in Fort Myers, is open to the public and will allow for public comments, three minutes per individual.

As the time came for the lease to expire, county staff briefed commissioners. The consensus was that it was in the best interest of the county to look at all options for this property through the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) process.

The ITN is designed to invite and identify qualified parties interested in developing and/or managing the property located at 11831 Bayshore Road

Kitson & Partners’ preliminary designs include the expansion of the Route 31 bridge, pedestrian access to the waterfront and reconfiguring the intersection at Bayshore Road and Route 31 which would provide primary access to the future development site

County Commissioner Frank Mann, in whose district the facility is located, said the county-owned property is still getting good use and that any rumors about any development are false.

“Nobody has talked about selling it. We went out for proposals for management of the facility because the Southwest Florida Lee County Fair Association had a 20-year contract that expired last year, but was extended an extra year because of COVID,” Mann said. “Chances are slim to none that there will be a shopping center. It would be a waste of a county asset.”

The civic center property is a huge facility with limited uses, making it underutilized, Mann said. The idea is to increase the usage of the 40-plus year-old facility.

Commissioner Brian Hamman, whose district includes parts of Cape Coral and North Fort Myers, said he would love to see the civic center offer the same kind of civic events such as the fair, as well as what it used to offer, like graduations and concerts. But for those types of events to return, the county would have to either vastly renovate the facility or tear it down and build something new.

“The stands are condemned. The building is in bad shape. I want to see something that preserves the civic activities we all love. I want to keep the fair and 4-H, the things we’re used to,” Hamman said. “I would also like to see the events I grew up with. To do that, the building would have to be in a lot better shape.”

Hamman said he was just outlining what he wants to see, knowing that social media has been hot on this story, with many different renditions.

“The train started moving really fast on social media and things went viral. I thought it would help to let everyone know there are a lot of hurdles for anyone to jump through,” Hamman said. “Just because things are being proposed, doesn’t mean that things are going to be approved.”

Kitson & Partners did not immediately return calls for comment.