Downtown Fort Myers

The front of what is now the arts center. At night these tube light up and
latin phrases are displayed on the front of the building.

          The word downtown evokes a few different emotions. Depending on what I am doing there it could evoke relaxation, frustration, or excitement. The plethora of activities you can do in Downtown Fort Myers is what can evoke these different emotions. Downtown was once the central hub of entertainment in Fort Myers, but things have changed as this town has continued to develop. Numerous shopping centers have gone up that contain movie theaters restaurants, and shops including, Gulf Coast Town Center, Miramar Outlets, and Coconut Point. In order to keep up with all these new developments, it could be said that Downtown Fort Myers is experiencing somewhat of a renaissance. There has been work that has been done within the past few years that has made downtown more attractive and new shops and restaurants have opened up. I think that this was needed to even begin to compete with the newer shopping centers that were put in.

            Some of the prominent architectural features in Downtown Fort Myers are a lot of the original buildings. One prominent piece of architecture is the front of the First National Bank, which are now law offices. Another building of prominent architecture is the building that is now the art center which was originally made of coral. Other nods to history that are not buildings are statues of historical figures placed around town. One of the biggest statues is in Centennial Park and depicts Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone on a camping trip. Other than historical prominent architecture there are also brick paved streets and beautiful building faces. These things are designed to “rekindle” the pedestrian spirit and make it enjoyable to be in Downtown Fort Myers. The type of architecture in Downtown Fort Myers is one of the factors that evokes the relaxation and peacefulness I was talking about earlier. 

            Over the years Downtown Fort Myers has experienced economic changes, which is expected with a growing community. Downtown used to be a thriving community in and of itself, however it is now dependent on the offices and working community it consists of. The evolution of Downtown Fort Myers relates to sustainability because it is keeping up with changing factors. It is changing the way it does things to stay afloat. Downtown Fort Myers has changed for the better to keep up with our growing community.

This mural depicts 3 differnt scenes from historic Fort Myers. (what is shown is
not the complete mural. My camera cut part of it out)