{"id":293206,"date":"2026-06-02T16:03:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/293206\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T16:03:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:03:14","slug":"tropicana-park-opens-cape-coral-breeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/293206\/","title":{"rendered":"Tropicana Park opens – Cape Coral Breeze"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n Supporters of Cape Coral rowing club turn out to protest lack of lease <\/p>\n

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Cape Coral Councilmember Bill Steinke, with other council members and city staff, cuts the ribbon at Tropicana Park last Friday. The waterfront park at at 4101 Tropicana Parkway offers a number of amenities including two public docks a beach area, gazebo, pavilions, playground, fitness stations and rest rooms.<\/p>\n

CASEY BRADLEY GENT<\/p>\n

2 \/ 5<\/p>\n

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Cape Coral Rowing Club parents and supporters gather Friday to advocate for the Cape Coral Rowing Club at Tropicana Park. Cape Coral City Council deadlocked on a lease agreement which would have carved out a small designated area for the storage of the rowing club\u2019s boats along with easy access to the public docks.
\nCASEY BARDLEY GENT<\/p>\n

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Tropicana Park’s 60-foot dock, one of two public docks at the park, with public parking featured behind it.
\nCASEY BRADLEY GENT<\/p>\n

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Project Manager Janice Simmering, of Burke Construction Group Inc., addresses those gathered for Friday’s unveiling of Tropicana Park.
\nCASEY BRADLEY GENT<\/p>\n

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Cape Coral Rowing Club parents and supporters gather Friday to advocate for the Cape Coral Rowing Club at Tropicana Park. Cape Coral City Council deadlocked on a lease agreement which would have carved out a small designated area for the storage of the rowing club\u2019s boats along with easy access to the public docks.
\nCASEY BARDLEY GENT<\/p>\n

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A decade ago, John Niehle\u2019s granddaughter became a member of the Cape Coral Rowing Club. The club, started in 2007, has been a popular place for local rowers of all ages to connect and build strength on the water. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a great activity for a young person,\u201d Niehle said. \u201cAnytime our young people want to be outside, being active, with their noses out of their phones, we should encourage it.\u201d <\/p>\n

On Friday, Niehle, joined a group of close to 100 rowing club supporters who rallied in protest as the city of Cape Coral officially opened Tropicana Park with the traditional ribbon cutting. The park opening came in the wake of a Cape Coral City Council deadlock on a long-promised lease arrangement with the club for a designated spot at the park where they could store their boats and easily launch from the public dock.<\/p>\n

The deadlock vote meant the lease agreement effectively failed just weeks before the park opening and the event, usually a celebratory occasion, was filled, instead, with contention. <\/p>\n

Protestors carried \u201cLet them Row\u201d signs in support of the club and its rowers. They wore T-shirts. At least one wore a costume evoking the Handmaiden\u2019s Tale.<\/p>\n

The new park has two public docks dedicated to non-motorized water craft, including kayaks and paddle boards, but the rowing club \u2014 long promised a lease to use the $500,000 dock specially designed for rowing \u2014 failed to garner final approval of a proposed lease from the Cape Coral City Council, which deadlocked 4-4 on an arrangement. <\/p>\n

Club supporters say they do do not understand the reasoning.<\/p>\n

\u201cBarring these kids from rowing at Tropicana Park is ridiculous,\u201d said Amy Gaziano, a neighbor of the Spreader waterway, at the opening. \u201cTaxpayers had our money spent and the dock is here. I don\u2019t understand the confusion.\u201d <\/p>\n

Half of city council \u2014 council members Rachel Kaduk, Jennifer Nelson-Lastra, Bill Steinke and Dr. Derrick Donnell \u2014 supported the lease agreement at Tropicana Park<\/p>\n

Half of the elected board \u2014 Mayor John Gunter and council members Joe Kilraine, Laurie Lehmann and Keith Long \u2014 voting against. <\/p>\n

Those opposed contend the rowing club would be better located at another city park, Crystal Lake, where another organization, which rows with dragon boats, is to be located. <\/p>\n

There is, however, no dock at Crystal Lake.<\/p>\n

Without a lease, and despite a subsequent voted 5-3 by council to pursue a plan B for the organization, club officials said the nonprofit is left without a home. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t understand it. During the design of this park, Mayor Gunter asked for heavy input from the rowing club in designing the dock, and he got it,\u201d Danielle Fitzsimmons said. \u201cMy son is a member of this club. Our taxpayer dollars of around $480,000.00 went to this design, and now my son and his friends can\u2019t row here.\u201d <\/p>\n

Wade Johnson, a Cape Coral Rowing Club member and student at Bishop Verot High School, said his goal is to get a college scholarship in rowing. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea where we are going to row,\u201d Johnson said. <\/p>\n

He glanced at the ground and shook his head. <\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the use of Tropicana Park, it\u2019s just month-to-month for us.\u201d <\/p>\n

Following the morning ceremony, Johnson asked Lehmann, who was among the city officials who attended Friday\u2019s ribbon cutting, if she might reconsider her vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no plans to reconsider it,\u201d Lehman replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have had citizens coming to me constantly, mostly homeowners from the top of the North Spreader, and they don\u2019t want the rowers here,\u201d Lehman said of her position. \u201cI have a permanent home for the rowing club, three miles away. It is the third island. And, I have a private bid for a dock that would cost around $40,000.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lehman said she hopes to secure corporate sponsors for a new dock, she proposes, that would be a permanent home for the rowing club further north along the spreader.<\/p>\n

Niehle is among those not convinced.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have watched this proposal as it has progressed,\u201d he said. \u201cEven in 2022, city planning had provisions at Tropicana Park for the rowers. The city paid nearby homeowners for additional parking spaces. Mayor Gunter added a 60-foot dock, for other non-motorized water sports, to accompany the 150-foot dock that rowers need. Everything was in place.\u201d <\/p>\n

City representatives, including Cape Coral Communications Manager Melissa Mickey, shared their commitment to the new park. <\/p>\n

Mickey said she hopes the community will enjoy the \u201cbeautiful new space, which includes not only the public docks but a beach area, gazebo, pavilions, playground, fitness stations and rest rooms.<\/p>\n

The park at 4101 Tropicana Parkway abuts the Seven Islands property an 47-acre site of Old Brunt Store Road to be developed as Gulf Gateway Resort and Marina Village.<\/p>\n

The developer, who purchased the property from the city, has been allowing the Cape Coral Rowing Club to launch from one of the manmade \u201chammerhead\u201d islands, dubbed island three.<\/p>\n


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