FMBGN-ROXIE-Restoring The Fort Myers Beach Arches

A wrecking ball took down one of Fort Myers Beach’s most recognizable entrance landmarks, but the story didn’t end in rubble. We’re joined by Earl from Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches to share the inside track on a commemorative arch planned for Bowditch Point Park and why this piece of island history still matters to residents, visitors, and families who’ve been coming here for generations. 

Earl walks us through the surprising aftermath of the demolition: the contractor felt so bad he personally bought and stored roughly 60 tons of the original stone, which has now been donated to the nonprofit. Engineers have reviewed the material, and the team is preparing to reuse those historic stones as facing, matched with similar stone sourced from local quarries. We also talk about how Hurricane Ian disrupted progress, and how the community’s recovery mindset is helping push the project forward. 

You’ll hear the latest on approvals, the development agreement process, and a big funding breakthrough supported by benefactor Alex King that helps meet county requirements and brings construction closer, potentially as soon as early next year. We also spotlight a state-approved historical marker going near the original arches site by the bridge, making Fort Myers Beach history easier to find and understand. Want to leave your mark? Brick donations for an engraved walkway are still available. Subscribe, share the show with a neighbor, and leave a quick review to help more people discover these local stories.

Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches
Earl Morgan
520-227-9902
WEBSITE
bricksrus.com/donorsite/walkthearches

Alex King Group
100 Lovers Ln, Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931
 (239) 232-6465
beach.realtor11@gmail.com
alexkinggroup.com

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Transcript

Welcome To The Good Neighbor Podcast

Intro/Close 0:00

Welcome to the Fort Myers Beach Good Neighbor podcast. No shade, just sunshine. Drama-free, positive vibes only. This is the Fort Myers Beach Chamber Roxie series, where we share local information, meet the people who make this island special, and shine some sun on the businesses that keep our island flowing. Here's your host.

Meet Earl And The Arches Mission

"Cabo" Jim 0:16

Welcome, good neighbors, to the Roxie Power Hour here in Time Square. Today we have Earl from to Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches. Yes, there we go. And he's got some big news and big things happening with that. But for those people that are unfamiliar with what you do, let's share a little bit about what you're all about.

The Original Arches And Why They Matter

Earl Morgan 0:35

Okay. Well, the original arches uh stood just across the bridge for 55 years and they were huge. And I got involved with it because I can remember going under them with my grandfather uh quite a few years ago. And when I uh came here full-time, I found that there was a group that was uh trying to bring the arches back and restore the heritage, and I became involved with it, and I'm representing the group. Uh the president is uh Stephen Ray McDonald.

Speaker 2 1:19

Okay.

Earl Morgan 1:19

He grew up here and climbed all over those arches, but he now lives in Arizona.

unknown 1:24

Okay.

The Wrecking Ball And Saved Stone

Earl Morgan 1:25

So since I live here, I'm not saying I'm nominated to represent and be the face of it for a while. And uh I've been Ray's been involved with it for like over 10 years, and I've now been involved with it for about five years. And of course, Hurricane Ian uh kind of interrupted our efforts and progress, but we've worked at being resilient also along with the rest of the community here, and uh are now working to bring it back, and we're trying to bring it back as what we're calling a commemorative arch. It's gonna be like what was over one side of the roadway to begin with, and we have that approved to be built in Valladichoint Park, okay, and uh we still have to uh complete a development agreement with the county and uh get it approved by the county commissioners, and then right now the way it looks is we may actually be able to start construction of it next January, February, or March. Uh of course, nothing's in concrete, so we we still are working or stones, yes. But we do uh part of the story that always fascinated me was when this bridge was built, uh those arches were supposed to be taken down and rebuilt in the park here. But the contractor who got the job didn't get that word, and he came in with the wrecking ball and just knocked them down. And he actually felt so bad about it that he personally bought 60 tons of that material and stored them on his ranch out in Buckingham. So there's they're out there, they're out there, and now his uh family has given those to our nonprofit, and we actually have already had engineers look at them and prepare them in slabs to be used as a facing on the Confederative Arts.

Speaker 2 3:46

Yeah, that's very cool.

Earl Morgan 3:47

So we're really pleased about that, and we've also been able to source uh the identical type of stone in local prairies, so we'd be able to do it just like the original. Except that it'll be like what was only over one side.

"Cabo" Jim 4:06

Yeah, very interesting. That's you know, and that's part of keeping that history alive, you know. It's like that that was a big entrance point for people for years.

Earl Morgan 4:16

55 years it stood there. Yeah. So and that's that was where where the swing bridge came in, right? Where it's right. It was the entrance to going on to the swing bridge to get onto the island.

New Historical Marker At The Site

"Cabo" Jim 4:30

And then what is happening on the other side of the uh the bay now? You said you're gonna be putting some markers over there?

Earl Morgan 4:36

Well, about two years ago, we applied to have a state-approved historical marker uh put at the original site of the arches, and in this past December, it actually got approved, and we have since uh ordered it, and we expect it to arrive within the next six to eight weeks. And when we do that, it F dot has already approved its placement, and it's gonna go to the right side of one of the main support arches of the bridge over where Doc Ford's and all of them are right as you go into the parking lot that's under the bridge. Um so when it arrives, uh we have approval, and of course, we'll have to get a contractor to put it in. But as soon as we can do that, the actual state historical marker on the site of the original architect will be another piece of history that uh will be available for everybody to see.

Funding Breakthrough And Build Timeline

"Cabo" Jim 5:48

And that's and it's important that we're keeping that history alive and sharing it with the new people coming in, and you know, we're losing some of that history. So to keep people educated and aware of where we came from and where we're going, exactly, you know, because things are gonna change, unfortunately, but yeah, right in a good way. Yeah. So speaking about exciting things though, uh you recently now you were doing funding to get everything approved, right? Right. And you you came across uh completing that?

Earl Morgan 6:17

Well it turns out that uh I happened to be working on a project and was working right alongside Mr. Alex King. Yeah, and he has been a great benefactor and helped us bring it to where we are. And we had a conversation, and of course, we're trying to help fund it all along by asking for brick donations, that's the bricks to go in the walkway that's gonna go to and under the arch. And we got to talking about it, and Alex decided that we ought to get this done. Yeah, so uh he's agreed to uh give us the check that we need to meet the requirements of the county to be able to finish the development agreement and get the county commissioner's approval, and then we'll be able to build it next year.

Brick Donations For The Walkway

"Cabo" Jim 7:24

Very nice, very nice. And you mentioned you have bricks available still, so people can still purchase, right?

Earl Morgan 7:30

That's that's correct. We have on the website and uh uh on the bricks R Us website, uh, you can go and uh actually still donate either a four by four or a four by eight or an eight by eight uh brick with the inscription of your choice. Yeah. Uh and that will help us complete that part of the project.

"Cabo" Jim 7:52

Uh, to have a nice etched brick walkway and pathway under the arch. Exciting stuff coming, right? Yep. Uh you know, and uh applaud you for your efforts and your team's efforts to get to get this going. Because I mean, you know, otherwise that stuff can still be sitting out and we lose a piece of history. Yeah, yeah, and those rocks would just be sitting up there, and nobody would know anything about it.

Earl Morgan 8:15

Right. So, and the the new commemorative arch is gonna go at Mallege Point Park, okay, right to the left of where all the facilities were on the pathway leading down to the beach. Uh, so that's where it's already approved and designated uh for that.

"Cabo" Jim 8:33

Very nice. Talk about a Kodak moment there, huh? That's a great picture, right? Right.

Earl Morgan 8:39

So, and we've always we have always planned and intended it for be a gift to the town of Fort Myers Beach in Lee County. And we also hope that it will be a another tourist asset along Bowditch Point Park uh to help attract people to Fort Myers Beach. And and know a bit of our history.

"Cabo" Jim 9:02

And that's just it. There's a lot of history on the island of people just come here and they come for the beach, right? They don't realize everything that happened prior, you know, going all the way back to the Calusa, right? Right, right. A lot of interesting things out there. So any last words for our listeners today?

Earl Morgan 9:20

Just that we appreciate the support that we've gotten up to this point, and uh we hope that people will uh continue to help us fill out the brick pathway by donating a brick. And how would they do that? By going to the Fort Myers Beach, Restore Fort Myers Beach Arches website, and there's a link on there to do that. Uh they can also come down here to Roxy and and get one of our brochures. Absolutely, right here right right next to us here. Yep.

"Cabo" Jim 9:54

We're happy to hand that information out and share with anybody who's interested and share with your friends. There's a lot of families that have been coming here for generations that you know to come come uh commemorate your family. I can get that out this morning. Um, yeah, it would be a great thing to do as well. Right. So so well, very good. Earl, it's been a pleasure. Thank you for everything you're doing, and uh thanks for having me. We'll see you under the arches very soon, right?

Community Cleanup Day Invitation

Earl Morgan 10:18

Right. Take care. Actually, on the 11th of April, um the Keep Lee County Beautiful and the National Cleanup Day is gonna be at Vallege Park on the beach this year from 8 to 10. All right, so we invite everybody out to help.

"Cabo" Jim 10:38

Yeah, I thought that because there's a lot of, you know, we we need more garbage cans here, but we won't get into the right. But cleaning up is important and it's it's uh great to be part of the community and do so. So definitely. All right, well, thank you, Earl. Thanks again.

Intro/Close 10:52

Thanks for sticking up a little sunshine with Roxy and the Fort Myers Beach Paper. If you loved w hat you heard, share this episode, leave a quick review, and follow for four island stories. Come join us every Friday at the Roxie Times Square on the beautiful Fort Myers Beach. Also, nominate your favorite person, local legends, heroes or local legends to be on the show. Go fmbgoodneighbor.com. That's fmbgoodneighbor.com.