Fort Myers Beach Pier breaks ground nearly 4 years after Hurricane Ian

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (WINK) — Lee County broke ground on the new Fort Myers Beach Pier on Friday morning, marking the official start of rebuilding one of the area's most iconic landmarks nearly four years after Hurricane Ian destroyed it.

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The groundbreaking ceremony took place at Crescent Beach Park at 10 a.m. The new pier is expected to open in the summer of 2027, according to Lee County.

Plans show the new pier will be about 1,000 feet long and 12 feet wide, significantly bigger than the old pier. It will incorporate reinforced concrete piles and a concrete deck to withstand future storms. The project carries a price tag of more than $14 million.

Getting to this point took years of planning, permitting and work behind the scenes. After Hurricane Ian destroyed the old pier, the county had to figure out how to rebuild it while making sure the new structure could handle future storms and meet federal and environmental requirements.

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One of the major steps was securing federal permits. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had to review the project because the new pier will extend into federal waters.

That review examined everything from water quality and fish habitat to endangered species and historic resources. The county also had to plan around the remnants of the old pier, including concrete pilings and debris still sitting in the water.

The new design will be more resilient. The pier will be raised about two feet with larger concrete pilings.