Fort Myers Beach bar rebuild an example of resilient waterfront construction

The reconstruction of a new, more resilient The Beach Bar points to how some buildings moving forward will be better prepared for stronger storms.

By Louis Llovio
| 5:00 a.m. November 14, 2024
| 2 Free Articles Remaining!

The Beach Bar on Fort Myers Beach is being rebuilt two years after it was destroyed by Hurricane Ian.

Charlotte–Lee–Collier

Just a little more than two years after Hurricane Ian made landfall, construction is underway on the rebuilding of a popular Fort Myers Beach bar wiped away in the September 2022 storm.

Crews are on site just a few feet from the Gulf of Mexico. Work is progressing toward a 2025 completion.

The bar is simply called The Beach Bar.

But that’s where the simplicity ends.

The project has been designed and is being constructed in a way that protects the property from future storms with the help of creative techniques and modern codes, which saved many properties on the barrier island during Ian and subsequent storms.

The focus, says Dan Adams the executive vice president and partner at Fort Myers-based Stevens Construction, is resiliency.

Dan Adams is the executive vice president and partner at Fort Myers-based Stevens Construction which is building The Beach Bar on Fort Myers Beach.

“I was born and raised here in Southwest Florida, in Fort Myers, so I lived through a lot of storms. Never been this frequent and never experienced the surge, the storm surge that we have been experiencing,” he says.

“But I don't think it, by any means, makes this place uninhabitable. Some of these older structures, unfortunately, are going to be wiped out, but they're going to be replaced with new structures, new buildings built to modern code that can withstand these stronger storms we're experiencing.”

Shine a light

He sees a way around the growing risk and believes what his firm is doing at The Beach Bar — and elsewhere — can serve as an example of how to adapt.

The popular local hangout is at 1668 I St.

The company says the design for the 5,813-square-foot, three-story building calls for the use of durable materials, composite soffits and a standing seam metal roof for greater longevity and storm resistance.

Adams says that the entire first floor is designed to be flexible and that the property will have temporary cooler storage and restroom trailers — both of which can be quickly relocated in the event of a storm.

The Beach Bar, which was destroyed during Hurricane Ian in 2022, is being rebuilt to better withstand stronger storm.

In addition to the building being fully concrete and built on piles, another resiliency measure is the exterior. Adams says rather than using wood siding — which could be eaten by termites — or vinyl siding — which could be ripped off — or synthetic wood, they used stucco and made it look like wood. A big reason for that is its more wind resistant, especially when coupled with impact windows and doors required by code.

“Really, the structures are now designed to withstand the storms as they're coming,” he says.

The builder will also use marine-grade cabinetry meant to handle harsh coastal elements, including sunlight and saltwater exposure. And the building will have turtle-friendly glass and lighting to protect hatching sea turtles by controlling beachfront illumination.

Move forward

The top two floors, meanwhile, will be residential rental units.

Adams says what his company is doing at The Beach Bar, designed by Studio A.D., is what’s going to happen along the coast moving forward.

That especially true in place like Fort Myers Beach which, before Ian, was filled with older buildings that had been around for decades. He remembers driving around the barrier island after Ian and seeing what many have reported seeing: Properties built after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 withstood the devastation while the older ones were destroyed.

The cost of storms can be mitigated

Jake Nellis is vice president at JE Dunn Tampa.

Courtesy image

JE Dunn Construction is one of the nation’s biggest construction companies in the country and is seeing the impact of storms in firsthand in cities nationwide. In a recent interview with the Business Observer, Jake Nellis, vice president at JE Dunn Tampa, spoke about how the company is working to make its projects more resilient. Edited excerpts:

Given the realities of stronger and more frequent storms, how has your approach to planning projects changed?

JE Dunn has been working in Florida for over 30 years and safety is our number one priority. We develop project specific hurricane preparedness plans for each of our active projects. Those plans are modified based on construction progress, but there are not any new fundamental changes to our approach. You don’t have to get ready if you stay ready.

What are some of the challenges you see when building on sites that may be more vulnerable to storms?

Every site is unique, so we develop a customized approach to each project. Inland sites may have less exposure than coastal sites, but still, we need to be keenly aware of drainage. Candidly, the storm surge from Helene was unprecedented and thankfully our projects were not affected.

When working on a project, what can you, the design team and/or the developer do to build in resiliency?

In this environment, with higher interest rates and lending markets constricted, it would be easy to look to reduce construction costs with lesser materials. We work with our clients and design partners to ensure we are installing the right materials for the right conditions. We tell our clients that they must invest in themselves, and this is especially important when it comes to design and material selections.

Can you talk about the materials you are using on projects and how they help with resiliency? And how they affect the cost?

In commercial construction, we generally see buildings that are designed and engineered to last 50 plus years. The designers most often make material selections. When it comes to resiliency, the focus needs to be on the structure and the building envelope.

How expensive is it in the long run if the right materials aren’t used?

Construction will always cost more tomorrow than it is today. So, it is critical that building owners invest in their projects now. Doing rework because you didn’t invest on the initial project increases the cost of the project, usually doubling it.

As Florida works to update codes, what do you hope to see and what improvements can be made to current building standards?

Actually, the Florida building codes are advanced compared to others states and the state requires Florida Product Approval in most critical applications and components of commercial buildings.

Given your expertise, has the time come to rethink coastal development and building on the water?

There will always be a demand for development in and around the waters of our great state. People will continue to come here in droves and the locals are not leaving.

author

Louis Llovio

Louis Llovio is the deputy managing editor at the Business Observer. Before going to work at the Observer, the longtime business writer worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Maryland Daily Record and for the Baltimore Sun Media Group. He lives in Tampa.