Reef builders

The first barges loaded with construction materials steamed out to the Gulf of Mexico from Marco Island on Jan. 9, the building blocks for the creation of the largest artificial reef system in the western hemisphere.

It's a huge undertaking: The barges will spend the next six months dropping tons of concrete beams, pipes and other construction debris on the sandy bottoms of 36 locations off Collier County, each measuring the size of a football field.

What's more, no taxpayer money is being spent on the $3 million project. “There's never been a public-private partnership of this magnitude,” says Diane Flagg, co-chair of the Economic Recovery Task Force with attorney Peter Flood.

Engineers, attorneys, planners and others originally formed the task force to tackle the foreclosure crisis in Collier County. The loosely knit group shifted its focus to the reef construction as the housing problem receded, using the nonprofit Community Foundation of Collier County as the conduit for tax-deductible donations.

So far, the initial $1.3 million funding came from the BP oil-spill settlement, but Flagg says the group plans to raise another $1.7 million from private sources to complete the project. Already, Flagg says donors have given the group about $50,000 for 8-foot-tall concrete pyramid-shaped structures to complement the debris. These modules are specially designed to promote fish habitat.

In addition, the group is selling the naming rights to six reef areas for $100,000 each. The reefs will be marked with the name of the donor on all future nautical charts.

The reefs will be located from 10 to 12 miles off the Collier County coast in an east-west direction. Because the current moves from south to north, it won't take long for sea life to find the reefs and settle them at the relatively shallow depths ranging from 30 to 60 feet.

In fact, organizers say fish will be there within days, and the reef will be teeming with life within two years, providing a boost to businesses that depend on that kind of ecotourism. “In three weeks you've got growth over everything,” Flagg says.

They're encouraged by the USS Mohawk artificial reef that was created in 2012 with the intentional sinking of the warship in coastal waters of Lee County. Within two years, recreational scuba divers there have spotted baitfish, grunts, grouper and giant whale sharks.

Fact is, many scuba divers in the Fort Myers and Naples area drive to the east coast and the Keys because there's little life on the sandy bottoms off the Collier and Lee coasts. Recreational fishermen will also welcome the new reefs, providing new fishing grounds.

Harry Julian, president and founder of Pure Florida, a Naples-based company that operates four fishing boats in the area, says he's working on plans to operate a 45-foot scuba boat within a year.

In addition, Julian's film-production company, Pure Image Productions, is creating a documentary on the establishment of the reef. The Julian family is well known in the film industry for Marine Team International, their water-stunt production company that worked on movies such as Titanic.

Follow Jean Gruss on Twitter @JeanGruss