The Rebuilt Naples Pier Will Be the First Since 1946 Without a Permanent Food Stand

The Naples Pier has sold food since 1946. When the new structure opens at the west end of 12th Avenue South, there will be no permanent stand at its entrance. On March 4, 2026, Naples City Council unanimously approved a landside design that cuts permanent food concessions and outdoor dining. The council agreed to look into a portable cart for water, ice cream and soda.

That decision says a lot about the pier being built offshore right now. Each choice made since Hurricane Ian has pointed the same way. The new pier will be higher and stronger. It will be simpler on land and built mainly for walking, fishing and watching the water. Even the old pier has found a second use about 10 nautical miles out in the Gulf.

Where Construction Stands in October

On September 18, 2026, Shoreline Foundation Inc. finished the concrete pour for the mid-pavilion. That took the project past 50 percent of the roughly 602 cubic yards of concrete the rebuild needs. For comparison, about 200 cubic yards were in place after the third pour on July 24. So the summer and early fall moved quickly, and the city credits a calm summer for the pace. On September 21, the Naples Daily News flew a drone over the site to document that progress.

The concrete has to be finished before anyone can walk on the pier. Two-thirds of the ipe decking had arrived by late July. Ipe is a tropical hardwood chosen for its resistance to rot, and the contractor plans to install it only after all the concrete is poured. According to the city's project page, the remaining work comes in this order:

1. Finish the remaining piles and the concrete substructure
2. Complete the framing and the ipe decking
3. Install the utility systems
4. Add visitor amenities, including benches and fish-cleaning stations

Construction started January 6, 2026, and the city expects the closure to last about 18 months. Gulfshore Business reported July 2027 as the completion target and summer 2027 as the expected reopening. WINK reported the same season and added that the date depends on plans holding. That is about nine months from now. It is a target, not a promise, and nothing published since construction began has moved it.

Why the Stand Is Not Coming Back

From 2015, the concession was Cosmos at the Pier. It sold pizza, hot dogs, drinks and beach supplies, and Gulfshore Business reported it brought the city about $100,000 a year. Two separate decisions led to it going away.

The first came from the council. In July 2024, after reviewing survey results and public demand, council members agreed by consensus that concessions were unnecessary. They said a stand could cause congestion at the pier entrance and bring noise, odors and other problems for people living nearby. The second came from federal funding rules. FEMA said that, under newer guidelines and because of the risk, neither a restaurant like the old Cosmos nor any permanent concession stand would be allowed above the water. FEMA committed funding for the project on December 12, 2025, so its guidelines count.

The decision was not easy for everyone on the dais. Before the March vote, council member Berne Barton pushed for at least a food cart:

"Mark my words, if we don't have concessions, we are going to get lambasted by our residents and our tourists. We need to try to find a solution that will help appease those who really do want to have some type of food and beverage service out there."

That compromise is now part of the plans. Electrical power will be run to the landside area so a cart can operate there. No operator has been named, and the cart is still an option the council is considering, not a confirmed service. If you picture coffee or a slice at the pier entrance, a cart for water and ice cream is the most the approved plan allows.

What Takes the Concession's Place

The space at the entrance now goes to restrooms and public safety. The third version of MHK Architecture's design reduces the landside buildings overall. Architect Maureen Minker told the council that the north men's restroom at the entrance will include a small beach patrol office with its own bathroom, plus a family restroom. A rear changing room has been converted to pier storage. The women's restroom area on the south side gets a new shade structure and benches outside. The beach showers move out from under the covered area. A small Naples police and beach patrol substation with an accessible bathroom sits near the entrance.

Over the water, the changes are about lasting through storms. Hurricane Ian badly damaged about 460 feet of the old pier. Roughly 140 feet of it, including the end shelter and more than 30 pilings, ended up on the Gulf floor. The new design answers that point by point.

The finished pier is reported to be 1,000 feet long and 12 feet wide. The underwater camera lets visitors watch marine life below the deck. Together with the fish-cleaning stations, it shows what the design is for. People will go out on this pier for the water itself. Shoreline Foundation's construction contract is $23.5 million. Gulfshore Business puts the total project at $26.3 million, and this is the seventh rebuild of the 137-year-old pier.

The Old Pier Is Already Holding Fish

In late April 2026, the city put 59 concrete pilings from the old pier on Wasmer Reef. That artificial reef was started in 2015, and the new pilings expand it. The city's timeline gives the date as April 24. Collier County's reef list records the deployment on 4/27 and lists the site as the Wasmer Naples Pier Reef, at 26° 2.029′ N, 81° 58.585′ W. A reef GPS listing puts it about 10.1 nautical miles from Gordon Pass.

Collier County's Coastal Zone Management Department runs the artificial reef program. It works with the Sea Grant Extension Agent, fishing guides and local agencies on monitoring and upkeep. The county says these reefs exist to improve recreational and charter fishing and diving. The county page does not list rules specific to Wasmer, so check current state fishing regulations before running out. For people who keep a boat on Naples Bay, the old pier's pilings are already a place to fish, almost a year before the new deck opens.

The project's work on the seafloor went further. In May, divers spent a month removing debris, including buried pilings from the 1990s, so the new pilings could go in safely. The city's photo gallery shows a dive team collecting coral samples and the samples at the Mote lab.

Using the Beach End Until Summer 2027

Until the pier opens, the city has closed the pier itself, its stairs, restrooms and showers, and 12th Avenue South west of Gulf Shore Boulevard South. The eastern two-thirds of the pier parking lot at 12th Avenue South and Gulf Shore Boulevard South is closed for construction. The western third is still open to the public.

You can reach the sand through pedestrian bypasses at the Broad Avenue South and 13th Avenue South beach ends. Both have restrooms, and the city says they will stay open for the whole project. The construction itself is easy to watch from the beach. A trestle along the south side has been in place since June so work can continue when the offshore barges have to take shelter from weather. The city's September 15 photos show a brown pelican landing on one of the new pilings.

The city posts each milestone on its Naples Pier Rebuild Project page, along with the final design plans and an overlay comparing the old pier and the new one. The renderings in the city's design gallery date to 2023 and predate the March 2026 landside revision. They still show an earlier entrance layout.

Living a few blocks from 12th Avenue South means the pier rebuild is part of daily life, from the walk to Broad Avenue South to the view of the new pilings at sunset. If you would like to talk about how the 2027 reopening fits into your own plans near the beach in Old Naples, Teresa Krapf and the Krapf Group are glad to share what we know.