Posted on January 7, 2026
Key Points
- The Naples and Fort Myers Beach fishing piers have been repeatedly damaged by hurricanes over the last century.
- Following extensive damage from Hurricane Ian in 2022, both piers are on a long road to recovery and reconstruction.
- The piers are cherished landmarks that residents see as central to community identity and resilience.
- Rebuilding efforts are underway, with the Naples Pier project beginning and the Fort Myers Beach pier slated for completion in 2027.
- Future rebuilding efforts for these landmarks face uncertainty due to potential cuts in federal disaster relief funding.
Over the last century or so, both the Naples and Fort Myers Beach fishing piers have been repeatedly battered by hurricanes, only to be constantly repaired or reconstructed a dozen times between them.
After the most damaging powerful storm in Southwest Florida history with 2022’s Ian, the two icons continue to face a long road to recovery, with residents passionate about the return of the landmarks.
“The fishing piers are the centerpieces to our beaches,” reader Teresa MacKenzie told the Naples Daily News. “They must be rebuilt and protected.”
On Monday (Jan. 5), one of those piers, the Naples Pier, took its first big step toward recovery when a groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark the official beginning of a rebuilding project that is expected to take 18 months.
Hurricane Ian clobbered the pier and all of Southwest Florida in September 2022. Ian was followed by hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, which did more damage to the already ravaged pier.
With Ian, more than 30 pilings collapsed. About half of the pier is missing, and all but 100 feet of it became unsafe and unusable.
Why are these celebrated gems, that for decades are among the most photographed venues in Southwest Florida, so cherished?
What is the history of Southwest Florida’s damaged Naples Pier?
Originally built in 1888 with the most history of the two treasures, the Naples Pier was remade in various manners after hurricanes in 1910, 1926, 1944 and 1960.
After a 2015 reconstruction, Hurricane Irma in 2017 damaged the structure that prompted more efforts, including regular reinforcement of the pilings.
Located at the west end of 12th Avenue South, the city says the precious showpiece draws more than a million visitors annually.
In December, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) gave the rebuild project a significant boost when it granted Naples significant funding to help rebuild the Naples Pier.
A $24 million construction contract is in place, and demolition is expected to take about six months.
What’s history of FM Beach Pier, which looks like Stonehenge?
Looking these days more like an American aquatic version of the U.K.’s Stonehenge, the original wooden version of Fort Myers Beach’s fishing pier went up in the 1930s, with Lee County acquiring it with adjacent land in 1949. It was later converted into a concrete pier, with the county having the dedication in 1976.
Over the years, hurricanes and even lesser storms have hammered it, leading to reconstruction projects, such as one in 1991. Another 2012 major repair project that cost $922,000 included replacing the hand rails, upgrading hardware with stainless steel and the wrapping of 57 pilings, according to county records. The year before Ian’s devastation, it closed for about a month for resurfacing of the deck.
Late in 2025, Lee County commissioners took a major step toward rebuilding the Fort Myers Beach pier in voting to request $7 million in BP/Deepwater Horizon recovery funds to supplement federal disaster aid.
The county’s request for BP settlement funds comes in addition to an expected reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency known as FEMA, which has committed to covering a portion of the costs. Collected tourism fees would also go toward the cost, expected to be at least $17 million.
The pier, a central gathering point for Southwest Florida residents and visitors for nearly a century, is slated for upgraded materials and engineering standards and a completion goal by 2027.
Finalized designs show a structure that will stretch 1,000 feet off the shore — nearly double the length of the original — and expand in width from 8 feet to 12 feet.
Why do SW Florida’s battered landmark piers have so much love?
The future of the piers are near and dear to the hearts of readers, who have been bombarding the News-Press, the Naples Daily News and related platforms across the spectrum with questions and concerns.
Via its various social media sites and in the print publication, the newspapers asked readers why there’s so much love for the popular focal points in Southwest Florida.
“It’s what draws everyone to our beaches and sunsets,” reader Melissa Crawford said. “Why wouldn’t we have our piers?
And it goes beyond that for Naples resident John Castle, who remembers its roots: “If anything, we should have more places to fish.”
An Instagram video making the rounds with AI help drew more than 1,200 likes in about the first week it was posted in July, not to mention the many more viewers hearing this: “It’s been over two years and still no pier. This is Naples, not Fort Myers. We deserve better. I’ve been casting off that pier since I was a kid. Raised my son on that wood. Now it’s just gone. We need it back. That pier ― it wasn’t just wood and nails. It was part of our soul.”
As one commenter noted, “the sense of entitlement is so well captured by the AI here.”
It has been a hot topic in local government meetings and on social media, like the “City of Naples Pier Community that has had more than 11,000 followers on Facebook.
“Having lived here since 1969, I would like one thing to somewhat remain,” said resident Carol Baker, who has watched Collier County transform from 40,000 residents to well over 400,000. “Those of us who fished off the pier, walked the pier at night or did a loop around the circle in front of the pier on Saturday night would like a little bit of our teenage years to hang out.”
With no concession stand, Naples native Lauryn Castellon-Feliciano worries about the lost “charm. You could fish, grab a hot dog or ice cream and enjoy the pier.”
Excited about the “rebirth,” Sandrine Fontaine called the Fort Myers Beach pier “the trigger of our love for this paradise that is Fort Myers Beach. I still remember our first sunset, my cry of surprise when I saw dolphins and my emotion at all this beauty that we were offered.”
“I sold bait and tackle on that pier for 10 years,” Fort Myers Beach resident Brenda Frost said. “Some of the best days of my life.”
“I grew up on this pier,” said Fort Myers Beach resident Mark Johnson. “Fishing everyday during the summer, every summer. Such good memories.”
“It’s difficult,” said former Beach Town Council member Karen Woodson, who prior to her historic recall addressed the topic in various meetings as residents pushed for updates. “People are worried and rightfully so. (With) the timing, it’s very extended, (and) none of us are happy about the time frame including Lee County.”
Piers role in ‘community identity, symbol of collective resilience’
In essence, human passion for landmarks like these stems from their ability to connect individuals and communities to their history, culture and shared experiences, fostering a sense of identity, belonging and pride.
“This resonates deeply with my ongoing research in placemaking, which examines how people engage with and find meaning in their surroundings,” said frequent Naples visitor Tommy James, the chair of the University of Central Florida’s architecture program. “To reframe your question, I would emphasize the term ‘place’ over ‘landmark,’ as it encompasses the lived experience of a community in a way that transcends just physical structures.”
And wanting to put Hurricane Ian in the rearview mirror after the massive disruption during such a dark moment in local history has a lot to do with it.
“This is not just about nostalgia or past memories; it’s about a place being a central part of one’s life and community fabric,” James told the Naples Daily News last year. “In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the urgency to rebuild the pier reflects this desire to restore a sense of normalcy, to signal that we are still here, and we are rebuilding. People return to these places because they feel connected to them, and this connection offers a foundation for resilience.
“In my own research, particularly through the “Pipeline to Better Placemaking” project, we have explored how communities engage with spaces in both physical and digital contexts, measuring not only human behavior but also environmental factors that contribute to a place’s vitality. When communities gather around a place, they share in an experience that strengthens their social fabric and collective identity.”
James drew parallels between Ian’s mayhem and the horrific 2016 Orlando Pulse nightclub massacre:
“The community came together at places like the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center and Lake Eola ― sites that provided both a place to mourn and a symbol of strength. These spaces, like the Naples Pier, became anchors during chaos.
“In a similar fashion, the rebuilding of the Naples Pier is not simply about restoring a physical structure, but about restoring a place that has become integral to the community’s identity and a symbol of collective resilience. This process of restoration speaks to a universal human need to feel grounded, especially after a disaster, and to reaffirm our connections to the places that define us.”
What threatens future rebuilds of piers & other SWFL treasures?
Climate change likely puts these adored community symbols in constant peril, and funding appears to be drying up in the future. In fact, the potential is there that this could be the final time they get reworked, in light of the White House starting cuts of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the gutting of hurricane relief and disaster recovery program and money and less sources at the local level.
