The closed Ballroom may have been tarnished with signs of its impending fate nailed to its walls, the fountain may have been gutted to its bowels of pipes, but for the dozen or so Cape kids, Cape pioneers and others who attended the “In Memory of the Cape Coral Yacht Club” service Friday, the ceremony was about the memories of a lifetime.

Childhood swimming lessons and fishing off the pier.

Splashing in the river and picnics on the sand.

Prom parties, weddings, celebrations of every sort — all of the milestones of youth, of glory days, of glorious times past.

All gone in a dash as memorialized by the poet Linda Ellis, whose work inspired the cover of the last invitation for the last event at the last remaining symbol of old Cape Coral, set for demolition by month’s end.

“The Dash poem, by Linda Ellis, speaks to the value of the ‘Dash’ that is between birth and passing. We celebrate the date of birth and mourn the date of passing. But what matters the most is the dash between those years. The Yacht Club’s dash represents the time spent alive, entertaining and working for the community of Cape Coral. Its dash may have only lasted 60 years, but those 60 years leave a legacy to remember, cherish, and savor,” the memorial keepsake reads.

The intentionally small farewell was opened by former Cape Coral City Council member Gloria Tate, whose family was among the first to move to Cape Coral when the “waterfront wonderland” that now is the biggest city between Tampa and Miami was in its infancy.

Those invited agreed the adieu was to be “honorable and respectful.”

And that is what it was from the speakers who shared their lives’ moments; to the hanging of a memorial wreath on well-weathered palms; to the last, the final, group sing-a-long which featured Bill Medley’s and Jennifer Warnes’ “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”

Those who spoke acknowledged that progress is not a bad thing.

It is, though, sometimes a sad thing, especially for those who see the beauty in things buffed to a patina of lives lived, of times enjoyed.

What will replace the old Yacht & Racquet Club, built by community founders/developers Leonard and Jack Rosen as a free-membership amenity enjoyed first by the 2,000 or so new homeowners then living here and the thousands — upon thousands — who followed?

A brand-new resort-style “destination” with a Key West vibe.

A two-story, 47,000-square-foot community center to replace the mid-Century ballroom, two resort-style pools, new piers, and a four-story parking garage.

The beach will be retained and expanded, the yacht basin and marina will be upgraded and improved, the boat ramp will be moved and more trailer parking will be provided.

Another restaurant with an outdoor dining deck will join the Boathouse, a relatively new addition to the complex via a public-private partnership and the only structure that will escape the wrecking claw this month.

The cost has not yet been determined but has been estimated as high as $110 million with funding to come, possibly, from revenue bonds.

The city also is exploring additional public-private partnerships, an arrangement or arrangements that could help offset some of the construction and/or operational costs.

Will the new Yacht Club be a “destination,” a place that draws residents and visitors?

It will be.

Of that we have no doubt.

Will it be a place to make memories.

It will be.

Of that we have no doubt.

Will it be a low-cost, no-cost, sunny afternoon place replete with rods and reels, beach chairs and sand shovels, picnic food from home, swim lessons and teen gatherings?

Not so much.

Probably not at all.

Revenue bond financing and public-private partnerships bring with them a pay-to-play dynamic as revenue bonds require, well, revenue, to pay back the loans and the private sector half of any “P3” needs to not only make money but to make enough to hand over a share to the city.

That is the price of progress.

That is the price of growing from a carved-from-pasture-land community to a small town, to grow from the city we are today to the city we will be tomorrow.

The taste of progress?

It is bittersweet.

Breeze editorial