The Naples Pier will not reopen this season. The latest local estimate puts the opening sometime in the summer of 2027. That makes 2026–27 the first full winter in Olde Naples with no pier at all. The 100-foot stub that reopened in November 2022 is also gone, since the city finished demolishing the old structure on April 13.
The project records show where the money and effort are going. Most of it is in the structure: thicker piles, a higher deck, more concrete underneath. The land side, where people used to linger, got smaller and simpler. The old pier is still in use, too, about ten miles offshore.
Halfway, measured in concrete
On October 6, the Naples Daily News opened its progress report with the question everyone in Collier County keeps asking: when will the new pier open? Concrete volume is the most useful way to track the answer. The whole project needs about 602 cubic yards.
| Date in 2026 | Milestone on the City of Naples project page |
|---|---|
| January 5 | Public groundbreaking ceremony at the pier |
| January 6 | Construction begins |
| April 13 | Demolition of the old pier completed |
| May 5 | Month-long dive effort begins removing debris, including buried pilings from the 1990s |
| June 17 | Trestle assembly begins on the south side |
| June 26 | First concrete pour, about 20 cubic yards |
| July 24 | Third pour complete, about 200 cubic yards in place; two-thirds of the decking delivered |
| September 18 | Mid-Pavilion pour complete, past 50 percent of total concrete |
That puts roughly a third of the total concrete at July 24 and more than half by mid-September, which is steady progress through the season most exposed to weather. The city credits the pace partly to "a calm summer." The trestle was built so crews can keep working even when the offshore barges have to take shelter. The decking waits on the concrete: Shoreline Foundation, Inc., the contractor, plans to install the ipe ("ee-pay") boards once every pour is done. So the boardwalk surface people picture will be one of the last things to appear.
Everything that changed is below the deck
This is the seventh time the pier has been rebuilt since 1888. Earlier rebuilds followed storms in 1910, 1926, 1944 and 1960. The pier was renovated in 2015, damaged by Irma in 2017, and then devastated by Ian on September 28, 2022. Ian severely damaged about 460 feet of the structure. Around 140 feet, including the end shelter and more than 30 pilings, ended up on the Gulf floor.
With that history, the design team led by Turrell, Hall & Associates and Naples-based MHK Architecture made the changes where storms do their damage.
- Piles: 18 inches in diameter, up from 14
- Pile layout: fewer piles, set farther apart, to reduce shoreline impact
- Support: stronger concrete beneath the ipe decking
- Height: a higher overall deck elevation
Shoreline Foundation won the construction contract on October 2, 2024, for $23.5 million. Gulfshore Business describes the full pier as a $26.3 million project. The two figures appear to measure different scopes, and either way, most of the money is going into the structure. FEMA obligated its funding on December 12, 2025, after confirming the pier qualified for in-kind replacement.
What the land side gave up
The above-ground plan went the other way. On March 4, Naples City Council voted unanimously for MHK's third design. That version shrinks the land-side buildings and drops outdoor dining and permanent food concessions. An earlier draft at 80 percent design had moved a concession to the shore. The March design replaced that plan.
Here is the approved package, drawn from the March 4 council memo and Gulfshore Business coverage:
Coming back or new
- Public restrooms on land
- A small Naples Police Department substation on the north side, with an accessible bathroom and a turtle-safe glass observation window
- Private offices and restrooms for police and beach patrol
- Retained storage space
- Benches and fish-cleaning stations on the pier
- An underwater camera for watching marine life
Reduced or removed
- The concession area, eliminated
- Shade on the south side, reduced substantially
- Showers, moved outside the shaded area
Food is the most likely gap. Council agreed to look at a portable cart selling water, ice cream and soda, and the land side will get electrical power to run one. Council member Berne Barton raised the issue before the vote: "Mark my words, if we don't have concessions, we are going to get lambasted by our residents and our tourists." According to council coverage, the City Manager said a food truck would not fit on the site. As of this fall, the reviewed city updates and design coverage name no cart operator, no bait shop and no reopening ceremony.
The old pier's second address
Some of the old pier is already back in the water. On April 24, 59 concrete pilings from the demolished structure were placed at Wasmer Reef, an artificial reef first established in 2015. Collier County's reef table lists the deployment as April 27, so the two public records disagree by three days. The Naples Daily News reported on May 1 that the pilings weigh 300 tons and sit about 10 miles offshore of Gordon Pass.
For anyone with a boat and a chartplotter, the county lists the Wasmer Naples Pier Reef at 26° 2.029′ N, 81° 58.585′ W, in 40 feet of water. WINK News reports that the site provides habitat for corals, aquatic vegetation, invertebrates and fish. Turrell, Hall & Associates oversaw the deployment, the same firm designing the new pier. The reef falls under Collier County's artificial reef program, run by the Coastal Zone Management Department, which supports recreational and charter fishing and diving. The anglers who used to cast from the end of 12th Avenue South can still fish over the old pier's pilings this winter. They just need a boat to get there.
Beach days until summer 2027
Until the pier reopens, the closure is larger than the pier. It covers the stairs, restrooms and showers, plus 12th Avenue South west of Gulf Shore Boulevard South. Only the western third of the Pier parking lot at 12th and Gulf Shore is open, because the eastern two-thirds are a staging area.
The city has kept two pedestrian bypasses open for the whole project, at the Broad Avenue South and 13th Avenue South beach ends. Both have restrooms. These are now the closest restroom-equipped ways onto the sand for anyone who used to start at the pier.
On the bay side, Naples City Dock at 880 12th Avenue South in Crayton Cove is open to the public. City pages give two different sets of hours, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. for public access and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. as operating hours, so it is worth calling before an evening visit. The dock is a good place to walk along the water, but city rules prohibit fishing and bait-netting from the dock itself. Fishing is allowed only from a moored vessel. The ship store carries live shrimp, frozen herring, squid, chum blocks and tackle, though no rods or reels, which makes it a provisioning stop for boaters heading out to places like Wasmer.
Anyone fishing from shore in the meantime should know the state rules. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says Florida residents fishing saltwater from shore generally need a no-cost shoreline license unless they hold another license or qualify for an exemption. Nonresidents need a regular saltwater license.
The next milestones to watch are the last concrete pours, followed by the ipe decking going down the length of the pier. The city's project timeline posts each step as it happens.
At J2 Luxury Group, we live and work a few blocks from the 12th Avenue South beach end, and we're following the rebuild along with our neighbors. If you'd like to talk about life in Olde Naples while the pier comes back, or how our walk to the Gulf will look once it reopens, we'd be glad to meet over coffee downtown. Discover Elevated Living — Schedule a Private Consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
