Ian destroyed everything around it. Now this Fort Myers Beach tower is a work of art

From destruction, they’re making something beautiful on Fort Myers Beach: A colorful art display atop a three-story tower that’s hard to miss as you drive onto the island from the Matanzas Pass Bridge.

Hurricane Ian destroyed the iconic Fort Myers Beach pier, but here it is again in mural form: Stretching out into the Gulf of Mexico and a glorious sunset. And more hopeful imagery is on its way, thanks to Fort Myers artists Lacy McClary and Summer DeSalvo.

“We wanted to make it about Fort Myers Beach and just about rebuilding and moving forward,” DeSalvo says.

Beach residents seem to appreciate the message, too. DeSalvo started on her part of the mural project on July 21, and she says a local watched her paint the entire time.

“She was crying and tearing up,” DeSalvo says. “It was so overwhelming, but it felt so good that I’m giving people these happy tears. Because everything was ripped from them.”

Hopeful art rises above Fort Myers Beach destruction

The artists' canvas: A freestanding elevator shaft that was once part of the three-story building that housed La Ola Surfside Restaurant, Sandal Factory and more in the Times Square area of Fort Myers Beach. That building − along with much of Times Square − was demolished by Hurricane Ian.

Now that elevator shaft is the only thing left standing.

“The storm blew out the entire building except for the elevator shaft,” says the building’s co-owner and property trustee, Chris Primeau of KLC Surf LLC. “It really was unrecognizable.”

Primeau and his two sisters − who own the building together − wanted to bring some beauty to all that devastation in Times Square, he says. So they put out a call to artists to paint the elevator shaft.

But Primeau says the murals have come to represent more than just beautification.

A lot more.

“It’s hope and promise, progress, resiliency,” says Primeau, who says he and his sisters plan to rebuild. “It’s whatever interpretation you want, you know?

“To me, it’s about phase two and rebirth. How do we get to the next place? It’s not going to demotivate you when you come over the bridge. It’s gonna say, ‘OK, it can be done. It’s possible.’”

Both artists started out donating their work, but that didn’t sit well with Primeau. So he started a GoFundMe to compensate them. Now it’s raised more than $4,700 of its $15,000 goal.

DeSalvo says she grateful, but she was happy doing the work for free. She says she loves Fort Myers Beach and already was looking for an artistic way to help the island recover from Ian.

“I have always been in love with Fort Myers Beach,” DeSalvo says. “Since I was a little girl, every time I ever want to go anywhere on the weekend, it’s always to Fort Myers Beach. I have so many nostalgic places that aren’t there anymore that I grew up at.

“I really wanted to be involved in the rebuilding, you know? … It’s just really important for me to be a part of it.”

What they're painting: “I want it to be a wow.'

DeSalvo’s murals stretch across two sides of the elevator shaft. They show the old pier, a sunset, a Fort Myers Beach shrimping boat, an American flag and sea turtles hatching and crawling toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Those are more than just sea turtles to DeSalvo, though. “That’s going to represent all the people that passed away,” she says.

DeSalvo is working closely with McClary, and they’ve been discussing themes, colors and other parts of the project. They’re sharing a motorized lift to get to the top of the elevator shaft, so they’re only able to work one person at a time.

Even so, they expect to finish the project within about two weeks − well ahead of the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Ian on Sept. 28.

McClary hasn’t started her part of the project yet, and she says she’s still figuring out what she’ll put on her two sides of the elevator shaft. Whatever it is, she says, it’ll likely be a mix of abstract art and Fort Myers Beach icons.

McClary − whose Beach studio and Sanibel Island home were both destroyed by Ian − says she jumped on the project as soon as she heard about it. She sees it as a way to give some color and happiness back to the Southwest Florida community.

“I think the project is going to give people some hope and also something that’s happy…” she says. “I feel like there are days where we’re all rebuilding and doing everything that we can just to get back to some type of normal.”

McClary loves the idea that the murals will be one of the first things people see when they come over the bridge onto Fort Myers Beach. So she’s working hard to make sure her paintings are colorful and memorable.

“I want it to be a wow,” she says.

Learn more about the project on the Facebook page The Times Square Project: https://tinyurl.com/3mn2psss . To donate to the GoFundMe, visit gofundme.com/f/su2bav-times-square-project.

— Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. For news tips or other entertainment-related matters, call him at 239-335-0368 (for tickets to shows, call the venue) or email him at crunnells@gannett.com. You can also connect with him on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells), Threads (@crunnells1) and Instagram (@crunnells1).

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers Beach tower transforms into work of art after Hurricane Ian