Naples, FL

Naples Pier ordinarily carries the city grid into the Gulf of Mexico, but in 2026 it is closed during an approximately 18-month rebuild that began on January 6. Beach access remains available by bypasses at Broad Avenue South and 13th Avenue South. The closure is the latest chapter for a structure that has always joined transportation and shoreline life. The Naples Company platted the town in 1887 around a pier and commercial core, with larger outlying lots reserved for growing fruit and vegetables. The original pier opened in 1888 as a freight and passenger dock. It was rebuilt after hurricanes in 1910, 1926, 1944, and 1960. Federal permits arrived in October 2025 and FEMA funding in December 2025, allowing the current project to break ground on January 5, 2026.

ATTRMarc Ryckaert / CC BY 2.5

The original grid survives within a small coastal city that counted 19,115 residents in the 2020 census. The Naples Historic District preserves development from three distinct periods: 1887–1889, 1910–1918, and 1922–1937. Present-day downtown divides into several adjoining districts. The city's parks master plan distinguishes Fifth Avenue, Historic Third Street, the Waterfront Entertainment District, Crayton Cove, and the 10th Street Design District. Public investment that began on Fifth Avenue later extended toward Eighth Street and the Design District. Near the northern side of downtown, Gulfshore Playhouse opened its 45,000-square-foot Baker Theatre and Education Center in October 2024. Its professional mainstage productions and education programs give the central city an arts institution with its own purpose-built home.

ATTRMickey Løgitmark / CC BY 3.0

Several working institutions sit close to those shopping and dining streets. The downtown Baker campus of NCH operates an emergency department and hospital services. Naples Airport, immediately east of the central area, began as a military airfield in 1943 and trained fighter pilots during World War II. It returned to the city in 1948, came under sole city ownership in 1958, and has been governed by an independent airport authority since 1969. The airport now serves private and general aviation. The hospital, professional theater, and airport place emergency care, performance production and teaching, and aviation services within or beside the retail and restaurant districts. A second waterside route runs along the Gordon River. Baker Park opened there in October 2019 on 15 acres, with a 1.3-mile loop, a kayak launch, a performance stage, and play areas.

ATTRDavid Balmer / CC BY 3.0

A pedestrian bridge connects the park to the Gordon River Greenway, extending the path beyond the park itself. The river setting offers a different kind of public access from the Gulf-facing beach and pier: it is organized around a linear path, bridge, launch, and neighborhood park. During the 2026 pier project, the city directs Gulf beach users to the Broad Avenue South and 13th Avenue South bypasses. The Baker Park bridge keeps the Gordon River path connected to the Greenway. That temporary split between a closed landmark and an open river corridor is an important part of living in Naples during the rebuild.