"Once we make it through hurricane season and we know the progress of the construction at that point, then you're in position to have a conversation if we are ahead or behind." City Manager Gary Young said that in mid-August, when the Naples Pier rebuild was reported at 40 percent complete. Seven weeks later, that conversation is close. The target is still July 2027.
The structure going up at the end of 12th Avenue South is easy to call a replacement, but it is a different pier from the one Hurricane Ian took. The new pier will stand higher and rest on heavier piles. The concession stand that sold ice cream and hot dogs for decades is not coming back, and an entrance with a police substation and restrooms takes its place. Some of the old pier has already been put to use 10 miles offshore.
Where the Work Stands in October
Shoreline Foundation, Inc. is building the pier from designs by Turrell, Hall & Associates and MHK Architecture. The contract was awarded on October 2, 2024, for $23.5 million. Here is the City's own timeline for 2026, in order:
- January 5 and 6. A public groundbreaking at the pier, followed by the start of construction the next day.
- April 13. Demolition of the old pier finished.
- May 5. A month-long dive effort began to clear debris, including buried pilings left from the 1990s.
- June 17. Crews started assembling a trestle on the south side. It lets work continue even when weather forces the offshore barges to shelter.
- June 26 through July 24. Three concrete pours for the bents, totaling about 200 cubic yards. Two-thirds of the new decking arrived by late July.
- September 18. The pour for the mid-pavilion took the project past the halfway mark for the roughly 602 cubic yards of concrete the pier needs.
The City credits a calm summer for the pace. Most production piles are in, and crews are working on the cast-in-place substructure, framing and the first sections of decking. Electrical work and a renovation of the bathroom and storage building are also underway. The surface people will actually walk on depends on the concrete. The City says installation of the ipe decking, a tropical hardwood picked for its resistance to rot, will start once all the concrete has been poured. Half the concrete is in place nine months into a schedule of about 18 months. That puts the remaining pours, not the boards, as the next milestone worth watching.
Naples Daily News reported on October 1 that the project is still expected to finish in July 2027. That date is a completion target. No public opening day has been announced.
Three Feet Higher, on Thicker Piles
The pier has been rebuilt after hurricanes in 1910, 1926, 1944 and 1960. It was renovated in 2015, damaged by Irma two years later, and then struck by Ian in September 2022. Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa, about 104 miles from the city. Even at that distance, it left about 460 feet of the pier severely damaged. Some 140 feet of it, including the end shelter and more than 30 pilings, ended up on the Gulf floor. Waves gutted the concession area and the midpoint shelter. City engineers judged most of the structural components compromised and recommended replacing the whole pier.
The new design answers that history with measurements. Piles grow from 14 inches in diameter to 18. There are fewer of them, set farther apart to reduce the impact on the shoreline. The concrete support under the decking is stronger, and the whole deck sits higher. Gulf Coast News reported the added elevation as three feet. Coverage of the groundbreaking said the plan was to raise the pier at least three feet while keeping its traditional look.
One figure is still unsettled. The City's beach information page describes the historic pier as 1,000 feet long. The August Gulf Coast News report says the new pier will extend 805 feet into the Gulf. The two numbers may be measured differently. Nothing published so far explains the difference.
At the far end, the City lists benches and fish-cleaning stations among the amenities still to come. The pier draws more than a million visitors a year to fish, socialize and watch wildlife, and the planned amenities point toward those uses.
The Stand That Isn't Coming Back
The decision most people will notice first came from outside the engineering. Federal regulators would not allow a concession to be rebuilt on the pier itself, so the City looked at moving the stand to the entrance on the land side. Some nearby residents objected to that location, citing crowds, traffic and food smells near beachfront homes.
Council took up the question on March 4. Council member Berne Barton warned, "Mark my words, if we don't have concessions, we are going to get lambasted by our residents and our tourists." Council member Bill Kramer took the other side: "I would suggest that wheeling the cart for ice cream and water may be a fine solution. Having concessions is an absolute no for me." The approved design has no permanent food stand. The city may allow a small cart selling drinks and ice cream near the pier. Gulfshore Business reported that Council would look into a portable cart. As of early October, no cart operator has been named in published reporting.
The entrance space is going to public safety instead. The approved plan includes a small Naples police substation with an accessible restroom by the entrance. It also cuts back the shaded seating on the south side and moves the beach showers out from under the covered area. Gulfshore Business describes the land-side buildings as housing public restrooms, storage, and police and beach-patrol uses. At the foot of 12th Avenue South, people will walk past a patrol office and restrooms rather than a snack window.
Part of the Old Pier Is Already Back in Use
Not all of the old pier was hauled away. On April 24, 59 concrete pilings were placed at Wasmer Reef, expanding an artificial reef first established in 2015. Gulf Coast News located the reef about 10 miles offshore of Gordon Pass. It also described the reef as supporting corals, vegetation and invertebrates that give fish shelter and food. Naples Daily News pitched the expanded reef as a new site for deep-sea divers. The published coverage does not give coordinates or access directions. Anyone hoping to dive or fish over the old pilings should plan the trip with a charter captain who knows the site.
So the old pier is playing the same role offshore that it played at 12th Avenue South: a structure that gathers fish. It is just doing it a boat ride past Gordon Pass.
Using the 12th Avenue Beach End Until Then
The closure covers more than the pier deck. It includes the stairs, restrooms and showers, plus 12th Avenue South west of Gulf Shore Boulevard South. The practical arrangement for the rest of the project:
- Parking. The western third of the pier lot at 12th Avenue South and Gulf Shore Boulevard South is still open to the public. The eastern two-thirds is reserved for construction.
- Beach access. The City set up pedestrian bypasses at the Broad Avenue South and 13th Avenue South beach ends. Both are to stay open for the full project.
- Restrooms. Available at both bypass locations.
- Fishing. The City has not designated a walk-up fishing pier to stand in during the closure. Naples City Dock in Crayton Cove is a full-service marina with fishing, sailing and sightseeing charters.
Over the coming months, the City's sequence calls for finishing the remaining pile and substructure work, then the framing and decking, utilities and visitor amenities. The City logs milestones on its rebuild project page, most recently the September 18 pour. Once hurricane season ends, Gary Young has said the city will know whether the project is ahead of or behind its July 2027 target.
If you own along the Gulf in Olde Naples and want to understand how the rebuild, the new police substation and the changed foot traffic at 12th Avenue South affect your corner of the neighborhood, Earls & Lappin can walk through it with you. Contact Us for a quiet conversation about your property and its place on the beach blocks.