The artwork shows a small dwelling, covered in pink clapboard, elevated on wooden posts. Tufts of sea oats sprout from the white sand and a few bicycles lean against a cottage wall. Looking at the picture, it's easy to imagine a family relaxing amid the subtropical setting after a long haul in the station wagon to this remote place.

Anyone who's looked at the Pink Shell lately is bound to have a different image of the landmark vacation spot. A nine-story, concrete building is under construction on a site that once held 62 of the quaint cottages. The $30 million structure, called the White Sand Villas, will feature 92 condos that people can buy, use and rent to others, even on a nightly basis. Also at the V-shaped tower, owners and guests will enjoy a spa, restaurant, lounge, pool, and, of course, the Gulf beach. All units have been sold in the price range of $250,000 to $730,000. Despite the changes, feedback from long-time guests is positive, They, like the resort's owner and one of its founders, recognize that the Pink Shell must move forward. They all know the business is evolving into something better, while maintaining its core values.

"There will be a connection to the Pink Shell of yesteryear," says Robert Boykin, chairman and CEO of property owner Boykin Lodging Company. "It's all about being at the beach and being in your flip-flops. And it's kid friendly."

That's important to Roxie Smith, whose father, Bob Davis, started the operation in 1950, after he bought a lot on the far northwest end of Fort Myers Beach, where the family had vacationed.

"The beaches were pretty and except for a lot of sand dunes, there wasn't much around," says Smith, who can't recall the purchase price but assumes it was a bargain by today's standards.

In 1952, Davis began buying more land and building pink, wooden guest cottages, thus establishing the Pink Shell Resort. To operate the business, Davis, his wife, Johnavieve, and the family, including Roxie, relocated from Sioux Falls, S.D. Smith later became an owner and after she got married, her husband, Paul Smith, joined in the partnership.

The resort thrived. Eventually multistory buildings with vacation villas were added and the individual units were sold. Owners could rent them to others with the Pink Shell as manager. "There's no doubt in my mind we were ahead of our time," says Smith of the vacation villa concept.

The 12-acre site held 225 units, pools and a restaurant all along 1,500 feet of shoreline. Along the way, Best Western took over the rental tasks.

In 1989, Smith, a widow by then, sold the resort to the Mariner Corp., which included among its properties the South Seas Resort and Yacht Harbor on Captiva Island.

Boykin Lodging Company of Cleveland bought the Pink Shell in 1998 and subsequently developed plans to rejuvenate the property. Boykin owns 29 hotels in 18 states, operating under brands such as Marriott, Hilton and Radisson, among others.

The wooden cottages, which withstood years of the humid weather and Hurricane Donna in 1960, had become a maintenance challenge. Robert Boykin decided they had to go.

"It was with a little regret that we took them down," he says.

All but two of the cottages were moved off-site and are for sale.

The new blueprints include the attractive White Sand Villas and many modern amenities. Interior columns in the lobby area will be fashioned to look like banyan trees, and tropical fish tanks will abound as part of the décor. The family-friendly theme also will entail a couple of costumed, "whimsical" mascots who will stroll about and entertain guests.

Once the White Sand is completed, some adjacent Pink Shell buildings will be razed to make room for a new complex. Improvements already have been made to other guest and condo structures on the property. Walking paths and "streetscaping" will become part of the package.

"The location hasn't changed and the name hasn't changed," says manager Dithmer. "It will just look different."

Smith still harbors sentiment for the business she and her family built, a place that has attracted generations of families who continue to visit each year.

"I have mixed feelings," says Smith, 68, who still lives in the community and is active in various local causes. "But the time has come to do something grand with what the property."