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Thirty years ago this week: Construction stalled on new post office
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P.O. WOES: The community’s new post office on Bonita Beach Road was on hold 30 years ago this week, the victim of a contractor who apparently had trouble meeting deadlines.
Dynamic Builders of Miami had been kicked off the job site several weeks earlier by Postmaster Bill Coleman when the company completed only 3 percent of the job in 55 percent of the time allotted for construction.
“Since then, nothing has happened at the postal site on Bonita Beach Road, and until a new contractor is hired to finish the job, postal authorities will not predict when the job will be completed,’’ The Banner reported.
The $268,000 facility had originally been slated for a dedication ceremony July 4, 1978.
Postal officials were reportedly preparing to select a new contractor.
Meanwhile, the Collier County School Board was suing Dynamic Builders, claiming it defaulted on a $479,000 contract to finish a vocational school addition in Immokalee.
LAWSUIT LIKELY: Local activist Tom Reahard said he would go to court if necessary to reopen a boat ramp at the end of Imperial River Road. Reahard, a 51-year resident, sent county officials a blistering letter, calling the ramp closing “a miscarriage of justice and a poor example of why we should trust government at any level.’’
The chamber of commerce had a committee dedicated to finding a suitable site to build a boat ramp on the river, but Reahard said another location was not needed.
“I want the chamber to act to get it reopened, if it takes an injunction to do it,’’ he said.
Ben Pratt, the county’s transportation director, said the Imperial River Road ramp was “abandoned’’ by the county because it had insufficient parking. Residents of the area had complained that boaters littered and were noisy.
A MOM AND MORE: “A very busy lady’’ is how The Banner described the chamber’s executive secretary, Sally Edge.
“Although she works and is active in many community affairs, Sally is a wife and mother first,’’ reported Myke Stewart. “Over the years, the Edge family has helped raise 43 foster children, sometimes with as many as 10 children at once in their house and as many as three brand-new infants.’’
Edge manned the chamber’s tiny booth in front of the banyan tree from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Her husband, David, was a local banking official.
IN THE ADS: The classifieds contained all sorts of real estate bargains, including three lots in Imperial Bonita Estates for $15,000, a three-bedroom CBS home in Park Place for $44,500 and bayfront lots across from the beach for $25,000.
Land just north of Coconut Road was priced at $4,000 an acre, an Imperial River home with 60 feet of waterfront was $39,000 and a duplex on the Imperial was offered for $41,000.
TURTLE TIME: Sanibel Island’s Caretta Research group announced upcoming beach patrols for loggerhead turtles. Caretta, founded by islander Charles LeBuff, had been conducting studies on the threatened turtles since 1968. The program, he announced, was expanding to include Sarasota, Bonita Springs and Naples.
ONE-HORSE TOWN: A photo of a horse and rider tooling along Old 41, no cars in sight, was headlined “The Good Old Days.’’ Indeed they were. The horse was headed north, and in the background were the Imperial River Court trailers that used to occupy the parcel that’s now Riverside Park.
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