The city of Cape Coral will spend $648,000 to finish the exterior shell of the planned bistro at Jaycee Park while seeking a private partner to complete the building’s interior and operate the new amenity.

City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn brought the discussion to Cape Coral City Council Wednesday because he needed direction to move forward with the Jaycee Park rebuild, estimated to cost $16-$18 million when Council approved the project in August of 2024.

He said the city was in the position of having an uncompleted structure because a public-private partnership agreement fell through after the concessionaire did not come forward with the capital contribution to finish the building.

“Along the way Councilwoman (Laurie) Lehmann had asked several times to stop the project and bistro,” he said. “Council made it very clear to continue to move the park forward. My staff has done that.”

Ilczyszyn said when they lost the concessionaire, staff gave the project — controversial from its start — time to settle.

“Some of the reason for delaying this – I didn’t want to put it right back out. I didn’t want to deal with another drastic change at the park that was unseen and have to deal with,” he said.

Now that the slab for the bistro was poured and the vertical walls went up, it was time to proceed with the discussion, he said.

There were three options presented to Council – suspend all work, move forward with the shell buildout, including the roof, or finish the building for a turnkey project.

“If we want to run it ourselves and completely do a full build out with turnkey for a move-in ready facility we are looking at $1.4 million,” Ilczyszyn said.

The second option, completing the shell, would allow a private-entity partner to finish the interior. The price tag for the roof was $216,000.

“Option two is getting direction to go out for (request for proposals) for another concessionaire – a capital contribution and also a revenue sharing partnership to offset future debt service cost on the park,” he said.

Councilman Laurie Lehmann said the thing she had the biggest problem with was how they could design a building without a roof.

“It seems to me the roof should have been part of the initial design,” she said. “Now we are talking about $216,000 just for the roof to then complete the building to the tune of $648,000. There is something missing here. The gray shell and the roof would have been part of the original set up and original design. Was this going to be completed by the original P3 that welched on the deal?”

Ilczyszyn said a shingle roof was in the initial plan.

“When the Reef concessionaire left, we had to step in and complete the design,” he said, adding that the shingle roof became an A frame roof over the building. “It’s a building with a structure over it. It is not like someone designed a building without a roof.”

Mayor John Gunter said his goal moving forward was to have the exterior of the building 100% completed before the park re-opens, so the people visiting the wholly rebuilt park will not be disrupted.

“My goal is to get back to where we were initially with this project,” he said of recouping the cost of the building. “To make sure the capital contribution is repaid back to the city.”

The second option that was chosen gives Council the flexibility to go through the RFP process to find the right partner to finish and operate the bistro amenity.

Once completed, the 12-acre riverfront park at the end of Beach Parkway, will feature a waterfront boardwalk, boat slips, bandshell, picnic areas and new playgrounds, splash pad, pavilion and landscaping in addition to the concessionaire component.

The park was demolished to make was for the rebuild with the removal of the trees along the riverfront being a topic of controversy for months.

The bistro, which was planned to allow for alcohol sales as well as a related food truck component, was protested as well.

To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com