Bill Barnett sprinkles NAPLES POTPOURRI

Bill Barnett

As this busy season comes to a close and the first wave of winter residents have left Naples, a strange calm seems to have fallen upon us. I always know that April 1st is the first hint that traffic has lightened up just the tiniest bit but will be steadily decreasing each week until my barometer of the traffic is gone which is always Mother’s Day. This year might be a little different because Easter is so late and there might be an early exodus heading out to be home for Easter, we will know! Although each year we seem to get more summer visitors, I don’t think we will ever see traffic in the summer be like our winter traffic is.

While I’m on the subject of traffic, I give a lot of credit to those of you who live way out on Immokalee Road. There are some beautiful developments that have sprung up in those areas over the last few years with all the amenities one could ask for from Publix Food Markets to Target and good restaurants. One would never have to come into the City of Naples unless it was for fine dining, and great shopping, a day of fishing with a guide from our City Dock, or perhaps hanging out at Baker Park. Maybe catch a performance at the magnificent Gulfshore Playhouse, however if you’re going to do that you need to make a reservation well in advance. That will be a special reason to come to the City and I will tell you it will be an enjoyable experience you will not forget! No, I didn’t forget to mention our superb beaches! What a great way to spend a day by bringing a picnic lunch even though you don’t have to because there are many casual restaurants to grab a sandwich within walking distance.

I started out with reasons why you wouldn’t have to come visit the City of Naples and ended up giving you reasons why you should. I left out my main thought which was to be about the Immokalee Road and surrounding area traffic. I have a friend who works for my dentist in downtown Naples and when I saw her the other day she was bitterly complaining about the traffic out there and said it takes her over an hour to get to work in the morning and even longer trying to get home at night. She’s not the first person to tell me that and yet the County keeps growing. I candidly don’t know how this traffic issue ever gets resolved. I know a new Overpass is in the works, and that will help no doubt. I will give the County Planners and Commissioners credit, they are doing their best, will it ever be good enough?

Since I have been writing for Life in Naples there have been many stories about the growth of Naples from when my family and I first moved here in 1973 to the present. A great example has just materialized and it gives the reader a great viewpoint of change. Beacon Bowl was a bowling alley located basically on the corner of Pine Ridge Road and Tamiami Trail North, with a 7-11 separating it from actually being on Pine Ridge Road. It had been in Naples for pretty near fifty years and our aunts, uncles, cousins and families gathered there to learn to bowl and hang out there throughout the 70’s, 80’s, and right up to this past
summer of 2025 when a rumor spread like wildfire through our community that it had been sold! It turned out to be true and another true Naples Landmark was leaving us, but for what in its place? I was contacted by the new owner of the property, someone that I knew and had admired for many years and who helped the City of Naples take shape early ahead of its time, especially on Fifth Avenue South in our City.

He was a true pioneer and is one of those rare people that you could definitely call a visionary, which he is and once again with this new project just shows his creativity. It is a familiar name in Naples, none other than Phil McCabe, a well known name here for sure. I should have known better when he told me a few years ago he was retiring! He and his sons Philip and Joseph and whomever else is in his group are going to build a Luxury Hotel where that good old bowling alley sat for so long. Its name will be the Carnelian, and you will see lots written about it in the very near future and it will be state of the art without a doubt. My first words to Phil were “A hotel Phil?” He smiled and told me to take a good look at that property and what was directly across the Tamiami Trail. Well, the light came on and I realized that it was Waterside, one of the finest, most exclusive shopping centers in all of Collier County and what a fabulous location for his luxury hotel! Once again he saw a possibility for something special in a location that was perfect for what he had planned.

Enjoy your late Spring and all of your Summer and we look forward to seeing you upon your return!

All the Best,
Bill Barnett, Former Mayor

I do respond to e-mails at: mayornaples@gmail.com