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A Naples Time Capsule

by Jeff Lytle
Contact Jeff Lytle, who has covered Southwest Florida since 1975.
n this big history year, with our country Room in our capsule should be reserved for another aerial
observing its 250th anniversary, a national photo, of the airport landing strip at the Collier-Dade border that
Itime capsule is being readied. Planners are was converted into a makeshift prison. People opening the capsule
tasked with not only choosing the contents. will want visual evidence that what they may have heard about
They have to make sure the capsule, and naming that outpost Alligator Alcatraz and incarcerating people
whatever is in there, will last for the next two there – charged in court or not -- were really true.
and a half centuries. The last time the county did a time capsule, 1976, contents
included a message
from the then-
chairman of the Collier
County Commission,
Cliff Wenzel. He
wondered about the
fate of county growth
and development rules
designed to cap the
population at 200,000 –
a target surpassed long
ago.
Other items in
1973 included three
newspapers, various
history books such
as “South Florida’s
Which makes me wonder … Vanished People – Travels in the Homeland of the Ancient
What would be in a Naples area time capsule? Calusa,” commemorative coins and the molds used to make them,
We could start with the Naples Pier rebuild. A scroll of the and a list of babies born that year.
latest rendering would be instructional to compare with what Other candidates for a 2026 time capsule:
actually got built. Concession stands or food trucks – or food A tree
carts? Would food be cooked on-site or prepared? Would fishing A pickleball
bait be sold? Answers to those niggling questions and more A model of the Golden Gate Parkway/Airport-Pulling
were taking longer than the years since destructive hurricanes to Road flyover to compare with styles more like “The Jetsons” on
answer. subsequent, space-age interchanges.
A joint map of Collier and Lee counties would show what the A copy of today’s county demographics, including data not
area was like before further consolidation into the single metro usually discussed, about average wages; the usual media attention
area it was becoming. to household income includes money such as savings, pensions and
There could be a special booklet on Estero, whose niche in dividends that was earned elsewhere. Big difference.
history would be demanding roads and utilities be in place before Meanwhile …
development while monitoring the quality of water, education, Publicity of discussion on Sanibel Island to employ
public safety and more. The secret sauce in the Estero story is that sharpshooters to get rid of coyotes vandalizing beach sea turtle
the good work is being carried out by motivated citizen volunteers nests brings back a Marco Island memory.
rather than bureaucrats. There in the 1980s a group from a condo near Tigertail Beach
A good aerial photo of Naples Airport might come in handy plotted to get rid of weeds and bushes taking root on the beach.
when planes, like drones, start taking off and landing vertically, The condo commandos feared the plants getting unsightly and
with little need for space-consuming runways. Thus, the airport perhaps blocking their view of the Gulf. Their weapon of choice
could become smaller rather than larger… attracting developers was Round-Up, and they talked of stealth spraying missions under
eager for more land on the Gordon River and, don’t forget, the dark of night.
proximity to downtown dining. It turns out the strike force was not deployed, perhaps due to
media coverage shining a light on the mission.
Jeff Lytle has covered and commented on the Naples area since
1979. Contact him at jlytle1951@gmail.com
58 www.LifeInNaples.net