Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council declines immediate $4.2M pledge for McCollum Hall redevelopment after calls for cost breakdown
Summary
Council members debated two financing options for redeveloping McCollum Hall and asked for a phased breakdown of hard costs; a motion to approve financial support using Option 1 (the $4.2M figure) did not pass on roll call.
The Fort Myers City Council considered whether to provide city financial support for the McCollum Hall redevelopment project but failed to approve the measure after several members demanded more detailed cost information and clearer limits on how city funds would be used.
Consultants presented two options for supporting the privately developed project; the recommended path — described as Option 1 — would route city contributions through the Community Redevelopment Agency. A consultant told the council, "The amount of $4,200,000 using option 1 as outlined by the memorandum provided by Wilber Smith LLC." Council members responding during discussion repeatedly asked that housing‑related costs be removed from the requested total and pressed for a phased breakdown, engineering and architectural cost estimates, and assurances that any city contribution be limited to hard construction costs rather than administrative or soft costs.
Council member Geraldo moved to delay an explicit dollar-amount approval and to bring the proposal back for workshop review with line-item detail; other members urged conditioning any support as a "not to exceed" amount and restricting funds to hard costs. After debate, the motion to approve financial support as presented failed on roll call.
