Bernie Montás
•9/2/2026
Construction on Sanibel's new police station will proceed after the Lee County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement with the city to use a federal grant to fund the project. The department's office flooded during Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. "Everything that was ground level got destroyed," said Chief William Dalton of the Sanibel Police Department. The Board of County Commissioners awarded the $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to Sanibel on Sept. 16, 2025. Commissioners had to approve an agreement with the city to use the funding. Before the hurricanes of the past four years, Sanibel planned to build a new station for the roughly 50-member department, but the scale of damage across the island made moving forward with the project seem unthinkable. "It was tough just to get by, let alone build a new building that we thought at that time was going to be ten, maybe $12 million. That's a huge undertaking for a small community," Dalton said. He expressed optimism about the project. "It's something that will last the community 50 to 100 years, and it'll help serve the community extensively in the future, you know, so we're excited to get this going," Dalton said. Sanibel resident Rebecca Strader also shared her thoughts on the new station. "I think it's excellent. I think they deserve to have a police station and extension for them, after all the and things," Strader said. Strader evacuated Sanibel just before Hurricane Ian made landfall and has been closely following the island's recovery. "Oh, I am proud. I can't even explain how proud I am to see it constantly, and we've been here since right after watching everything. So, I think the wonderful," she said. The city aims to complete the new police station by 2029. DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.
