COASTE | COMMUNITY
But downtown Fort Myers was lucky — because a talented and dedicated visionary has been leading the Downtown Redevelopment Agency since its inception. Over the past 30 years, Executive Director Don Paight has worked with political leaders and River District Alliance merchants group to reenergize the historic district. Anchored by an underground utilities project, the City of Fort Myers in turn found grant money to undertake a streetscape improvement project to the tune of $55 million, the largest known project of its kind in the U.S. “The 2005-2009 utilities project included 54 contiguous blocks, and tore up every street in downtown. A few businesses did not survive the gutting,” explained Paight. “But, as painful as that experience was, the result is an award-winning restoration that included resurfacing to restore the original 1920s brick streets, improved infrastructure, the reintroduction
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