FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla — After nearly three years, Beach Bar is back.
Watch Fox 4 Photojournalist Andy Cunningham's story, about why the significance of the reopening goes beyond having the bar back:
Hundreds of people were at a ribbon cutting to celebrate the grand reopening of the popular attraction destroyed in Hurricane Ian. Most wore either red, white and blue to coincide with the July 4th holiday or Beach Bar printed shirts while they listened to live music by Bladen and Dottie Kelly Band.
The new building was constructed specifically to withstand the danger posed by future hurricanes and storm surge.
"It's 20 ft high, all concrete, steel and metal. Security gates will come down at night. When a storm comes, the gates will go up and we're hoping everything just flows right through," owner Greg Boyd said.
Stevens Construction built the 3-story building which also houses 2 separate condos above Beach Bar.
Boyd said the bathroom trailers, merchandise, bar supplies and even the stage can be easily broken down, detached, hooked up to a hitch and driven off Estero Island when necessary.
Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dan Allers talked about both the length of time to restore normalcy to the area, and the perseverance required in that process.
"It talks about the resiliency, it talks about the willingness for people to want to build back, and invest in the island and its not just our businesses, its our residents our visitors, all the people that you see here today coming together," He said. "It takes a group of people to make something like this happen, and the fact that people are willing to invest in their homes here and businesses here just tells your what Fort Myers Beach is all about."
People at the grand reopening called Beach Bar "iconic" and "where the locals know to go."
"This is the first step in really bringing this place together," proudly summed up Boyd, who then shared the Beach Bar motto: "Come in as friends, and dance out as family."
