Residents didn’t waste any time to enjoy the “soft opening” of the Yacht Club Beach in November. CJ HADDAD

The fences are down, new sand laid, and after 400-plus days, the Cape Coral Yacht Club Beach is open.

City officials on Thursday afternoon gathered to officially declare the popular spot open to the public after Hurricane Ian just about destroyed the area a little over a year ago.

“This is a great day for our community,” said Cape Coral Mayor John Gunter. “Four hundred and eight days ago, we had almost a Category 5 hurricane hit this area. And this area of our city was the hardest hit.

“Today is great day so we can open the park up, and let our residents enjoy the beach that we do have here in Cape Coral.”

Gunter said the city would have liked to have the beach open sooner, but that having to wait on permits resulted in having to wait longer than anticipated. He said as soon as those permits were approved, city crews were ready to move in swiftly to remedy the area that was riddled with debris, including the addition of 500 tons of new sand.

Residents didn’t waste any time to enjoy the “soft opening” of the Yacht Club Beach Thursday. CJ HADDAD

“This area, in my opinion, is one of the crown jewels of the city,” Gunter added. “Our city council, as early as (Wednesday), were having discussion on next steps and what we are going to eventually rebuild here for our residents. I’m very eager to get those discussions completed so the construction can begin.”

City officials said safety was a top priority for Council when it came to reopening the Yacht Club Beach. Following the storm, boats were scatted about, the pier was just pilings, tree debris was rampant. The city was forced to demolish both pavilions, both restrooms were lost, finger piers gone.

“It looked like a war zone,” Gunter said.

City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn said vessels were sunk in the basin that needed to be hauled out, the Harbor Master’s building lost its roof, and that “it was pretty rough.”

“It’s taken the entire year with staff little-by-little clawing into here,” he said. “Before opening, we sent divers in the water to scuba dive the entire thing to make sure if anyone went into the water, they wouldn’t be stepping on anything.”

Residents didn’t waste any time to enjoy the “soft opening” of the Yacht Club Beach Thursday. CJ HADDAD

District 1 Councilmember Bill Steinke said while it’s been a long road to opening, more needs to be done.

“As you look at the beach today… as soon as the boat ramps are relocated inside the marina, the beach will even span a further distance along the waterway to have greater beach area for all of our citizens and tourists to enjoy,” he said.

Steinke said he and council are looking to make the existing, and new amenities at the Yacht Club Community Park “the best they can possibly be. Not just for today, but for decades to come.”

Those amenities could include a “resort-style” pool, community center for events, restaurants, and a secondary pier.

Steinke said the city is waiting on additional permitting to start on a new seawall and docking.

“And all the amenities will come next,” Steinke added.

With new amenities and the demolition of the Yacht Club Ballroom on the horizon, city officials are hopeful another closure is not forthcoming. Ilczyszyn said the city has plans for the end of December or early January to start the demolition of the ballroom and Tony Rotino Center. The city hopes to have all of the contractors staged behind the building as to not interfere with the limited parking for beachgoers currently.

“We think we’ve got it positioned statically where we can do that work, and allow the residents and tourists to still come here and enjoy the beach,” Ilczyszyn said.

While city officials were delivering this update, some residents were already taking advantage of the downed fences — laying out to work on their tan, taking a dip, and enjoying the new sand between their toes.

Part-time Cape resident Kay Davis was soaking up the sun with a few of her friends, all of whom were excited to have the beach in their backyard open once more.

“We planned on going to Sanibel or Lover’s Key (and due to traffic) we said, ‘Hey, let’s see if this is open.’ And it’s nice,” Davis said. “It’s so much easier to get here. And we love the Boathouse restaurant.”

Davis and the others all agreed it was getting tiring having to drive out of the city to enjoy a beachfront area while the area was shutdown.

“We missed it last winter,” Davis said. “There are great conditions here. I am a bit worried about what the parking is going to be like when (construction starts).”

The Yacht Club Beach will return to regular operating hours today.

The Cape Coral Yacht Club Community Park is at 5819 Driftwood Parkway.