City’s ever-changing plans for the Yacht Club are seriously lacking
To the editor:
Thank you to the Cape Coral Breeze for the 60th anniversary Yacht Club insert in the June 10, 2022, issue. It was so cool to see what the Yacht Club development looked like from the air in 1958 when it was only bounded by Cape Coral Parkway on the north and Coronado Parkway on the west. It also showed the eight original houses and one lone road (Del Prado) out of the area.
I am concerned about the future of the Yacht Club community park and the city’s ever-changing plans for it. I was glad to read in this issue that two City council members want to keep the Yacht Club building, although they seemed resigned that it will be replaced with something else. It is an historic building in Cape Coral. It should be preserved and rehabbed. It may be the largest rentable hall for various functions on the Cape. The Cape Coral New Residents Club held their monthly meetings there until they were told to vacate because of the two-year project that has not gotten off the ground because of the lack of environmental and water permits.
However, the Yacht Club project does not even address the final determination of the Yacht Club building. It makes no sense to have a two-year project to reconfigure the roads in the area and then decide what to do with the Yacht Club building. The city could be rehabbing this building now, while they wait for the permits for the rest of the project.
Regarding the Tony Rotino Center, The Breeze article said that the city was thinking of turning it into a restaurant. This is a good idea that the city should and can pursue now, not wait for the roads to be redeveloped.
The three-story, 300-car parking garage planned for the west side of the marina is the only elephant in the room. Originally, the city received comments from the city residents that they wanted more beach and more parking. I wonder how many residents wanted a parking garage that will charge $2 per hour to park there. Where else in Cape Coral does the city charge for parking? It puts a damper on the whole down-home feel of the Yacht Club area. The city is flush with money now, due to the tremendous amount of building going on in the Cape. Parking in this garage should be free.
Ken Kendrick
Cape Coral