Downtown Fort Myers

Downtown Fort Myers businesses hoping to rebuild and reopen after Hurricane Ian

Riley Hazel

Owners of some businesses in Fort Myers that flooded during Hurricane Ian are cleaning up and hoping to re-open. But the downtown shop owners are dealing with many issues since the storm, including loss of homes, vehicles and income.

Ebony Pullum as Billie Holiday (front) sings “What a Little Moonlight Can Do" during a promotional photoshoot at Florida Rep's ArtStage Studio theatre on September 16, 2022. Behind Pullum is Garrick Vaughan as Jimmy Powers, Billie's friend and piano player, in the musical.

The show must go on: Florida Rep resurrects 'Lady Day' at Alliance for the Arts after Hurricane Ian

Tara Calligan

Despite damages to the historic Arcade Theatre caused by Hurricane Ian, the Florida Repertory Theatre in downtown Fort Myers is continuing its run of the Billie Holiday musical “Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grille" at the Alliance for the Arts.

Protestors took the streets for a 0.3 mile march where they held signs and marched at March For Our Lives in downtown Fort Myers on June 11.

Personal experiences drive the gun reform narrative at the Fort Myers March For Our Lives event on Saturday

Hayley Lemery

On June 11, over 400 people gathered in downtown Fort Myers as part of the nationwide March For Our Lives demonstration for gun reform. Speakers used personal experiences to call for stricter gun laws and regulations.

The recent mass shootings moved more than 400 people to attend the March For Our Lives rally on Saturday in downtown Fort Myers. The event was one of hundreds held across the United States. Local students, teachers and parents spoke of the toll that gun violence is having on their lives. Activists and community leaders called for legislative change. A moment of silence was observed.

Mass shootings unite community in hurt and hope. The March For Our Lives in Fort Myers in pictures

Kinfay Moroti

Mass shootings unite community in hurt and hope. The March For Our Lives in Fort Myers in pictures

Israelis and Americans participate in a pro gun control rally in the U.S., the "March for Our Lives", a demonstration which will take place on Saturday in Washington DC and is one of over 800 events planned around the world, outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, March 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Early childhood education student is organizing the local March For Our Lives event this Saturday

Hayley Lemery

Madison Franz, an advocate for gun reform and early childhood education student at Florida Gulf Coast University, is planning a march on Saturday, June 11 in downtown Fort Myers. The event is in partnership with hundreds of similar demonstrations across the country and internationally through the nonprofit Marches For Our Lives.

The intersection of Hendry Street and Main Street on February 24, 2022. This may be home to a new project, the Hendry Street Pedestrian Mall, that will link Midtown to Downtown Fort Myers.

The Hendry Street Pedestrian Mall could link Midtown to Downtown Fort Myers

Katiuska Carrillo

The City of Fort Myers has been trying to link Midtown to Downtown since 2018.Matthew Leger presented the Hendry Street Pedestrian Mall as a possible way to bring together the two communities. He did so at a recent Fort Myers City Council meeting.

Cecilia Lueza's artistic rendering of "Journey of Hope."

"Journey of Hope" design to bring message of hope, equality and freedom to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Veronica S. Shoemaker Blvd intersection

Tara Calligan

A design by multimedia artist Cecilia Lueza that embodies the concepts of dreams, hope and civil rights will be constructed at the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Veronica S. Shoemaker Boulevards.

Tom Hall, City of Fort Myers Public Art Consultant, and Antoine Williams, Assistant Director of Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency, standing on the site of where the capital art project will be displayed located to the south of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, and between the north and southbound lanes of Veronica S. Shoemaker Blvd

A call to artists to connect Dunbar and Fort Myers at the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Veronica S. Shoemaker Blvd

Tara Calligan

In collaboration with the City of Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency and the Lee County Black History Society, the Fort Myers Public Art Committee is seeking artists for a public art project at the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Veronica S. Shoemaker Boulevards.

Hundreds Turn Out for Saturday Protest in Fort Myers

John Davis

As demonstrations continue throughout the nation, about 200 protesters gathered again in downtown Fort Myers Saturday afternoon for a peaceful demonstration against police brutality, racial injustice and racial profiling.

Business/Economy

Local Fort Myers Business Sells CBD-Infused Products

Mike Kiniry

A new business in downtown Fort Myers is selling products that contain CBD, or cannabidol, which is a naturally occurring compound found in cannabis. Seed…