Some want downtown Fort Myers sign preserved

By Gabrielle Sarann

CREATED Oct. 14, 2012

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  • As a new bar-restaurant is renovated in downtown Fort Myers, there's controversy about a long-time sign on the side of the building. Video by fox4now.com

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FORT MYERS, Fla. - Off Bay Street in downtown Fort Myers, sits a faded relic from the decade of decadence.

"I worked down here in the eighties and we used to come over and have lunch," reminisced Johanna Shifflette, who moved to the area 30 years ago.

 Shiflette remembers the Peter's La Cuisine sign from the days when it advertised a fine, French restaurant and bar. 
 
"I would like to see it stay," added Shifflette. "At night, we'd come down to the blues bar and listen to the Mambo Brothers play. It was a lot of fun."
 
But that signage may be painted over. The space will be home to the new, tri-level Firestone Grill.
 
"Have you decided if it's going to stay or go?" asked Fox 4 reporter Gabrielle Sarann to one of the owners, Nils Richter. "No, honestly we haven't really even discussed that," he replied. "We have a lot of other things going on."
 
Richter, also opening Los Cabos Cantina on First Street, says because the sign isn't considered historic by the preservation board, it may not stay.
 
"We don't want to promote another restaurant necessarily that isn't ours," Richter added.
 
Other long-time residents like Terry Norberg say he doesn't want it to go.
 
"It's a nice little blast from the past," said Norberg.
 
Not because Norberg feels attached to it. But he says a touch of the past adds character to the new.
 
"I think if you just tear down everything that's just a little bit old you end up with a really sterile city, a really sterile town," concluded Norberg.
 
Again, Richter tells us no decision has been made about the sign. He and his three partners expect to open The Firestone Grill at the end of November.