Eye On: Downtown Fort Myers

As new businesses open,. existing ones expand and a new hotel is welcomed, the concept of spending a Friday night or a weekend getaway in downtown Fort Myers is gaining appeal. 

Additions like the Butterfly Estates, a large glass conservatory filled with at least 500 butterflies, add a unique appeal to downtown, bringing in families and organizations for a daytime outing. Other new establishments, including La Trattoria Restaurant and Piano Bar, Inspire Home Furnishings and Accessories, Rumours on the Water Hair Design and Core-Cardio-Glut Camp attract everyone from foodies to fitness buffs. And the new Hotel Indigo offers downtown a quality, full-service hotel catering to business travelers and tourists. 

There is still much work to be done to make the River District, as it’s called, a shopping and dining destination, but Don Paight, executive director of the Fort Myers Redevelopment Agency, is determined to see it completed. “I came here 20 years ago with a vision. Now I want to get this finished,” he says. 

Finally reaching completion are the four-year-long utility replacement and streetscape enhancement projects. While needed, they deterred the public from frequenting downtown and resulted in lost revenues for business owners. For the French Connection Café, a fixture in downtown for 23 years, business was affected for nine months during work on Jackson Street and another three months while First Street was under construction. And although owner Pam Lemmerman concedes the end product is “beautiful,” she’s still trying to make up for revenue lost during the construction. 

“They did make an effort,” she says of the city’s involvement. “They stepped up to the plate and tried to make things happen down here.”