"This marina has long served as a homeport for boaters traveling Florida's west coast," AIRN Management CEO Rick Budd said in the News-Press this month, as Legacy Harbour Marina reopened after its rebuild.
The timing matters downtown. The 54th Fort Myers Boat Show opens Thursday, Nov. 12. It's the first show since Hurricane Ian with the marina at 2044 West First St. back in business. For most people who live here, the show is a four-day event with a $20 gate. The marina is the longer story, and most people will feel it at a dinner table on the river. You don't need a slip.
Four years off the river, 131 slips back
Ian badly damaged the 13-acre Legacy Harbour property, so the marina, the harbor master building and the amenities all had to be rebuilt from scratch. The News-Press reported that construction started in early 2025 and the first boaters were back on the docks almost four years to the day after the storm. The paper said the $15 million comeback was set to become official Oct. 23.
The rebuild was led by AIRN Management with Bellingham Marine. According to the marina's reopening announcement, it added:
- 131 slips
- A Unifloat concrete wave attenuator on 70-foot steel piles
- Potable water, in-slip pump-out, fire suppression and shore power at the slips
Coastal Marina Management runs day-to-day operations. AIRN owns the marina and operates it under a lease with the City of Fort Myers.
The News-Press made a point the slip count alone misses. Legacy Harbour puts back slips the region lost rather than adding new ones. That still matters in Southwest Florida, where finding a place to keep a boat has become about as hard as buying one, and where building new marina space keeps getting harder.
The same article explains why residents without a boat should care. Boaters who tie up at Legacy Harbour can walk to the River District's restaurants, shops and entertainment. The marina brings customers back to the downtown waterfront along with the boats.
Show weekend puts that idea to its first test
Every November the boat show fills the riverfront with people who came to look at boats. The organizers bill it as the largest display of boats and boating products on Florida's Gulf Coast. The marina's announcement places Legacy Harbour along the show's route. The News-Press said the reopening landed just in time for the neighborhood's biggest boating weekend of the year.
According to Go Boating Florida's show information page, exhibits run along the Caloosahatchee, through Centennial Park and the newly renovated Caloosa Sound Convention Center, then east along Edwards Drive to Lee Street.
| Show detail | What to know |
|---|---|
| Thursday, Nov. 12 | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Friday, Nov. 13 | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 14 | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Sunday, Nov. 15 | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Main entrance | Bay Street and Heitman Street, next to the Post Office |
| East entrance | Lee Street and Edwards Drive |
| Admission | $20 for adults; children 15 and under free with a paid adult |
| Tickets | Sold at the entrances only; no online sales |
You can't buy tickets online. Organizers say selling at the gate saves visitors the online ticketing fees, and that the lines are usually short.
Getting downtown and back without circling
If you live nearby, parking and the shuttles matter more than the boats on the schedule. Here's what organizers publish:
- Pick a garage. The two big ones are the Edison Parking Garage at Monroe and Bay streets and the Main Street Parking Garage at Jackson and First streets. Paid grass and asphalt lots are scattered around downtown.
- Check the map first. The show's interactive map shows parking options, prices and shuttle stops. Organizers posted it Oct. 19 and note that exhibitor and show details may change.
- Use the shuttles. They run nonstop between the parking areas and the entrances from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and until 6 p.m. Sunday.
- Ride the free shuttle between entrances. It connects the Bay and Heitman entrance with the Lee and Edwards entrance. That's handy if you parked at one end and want to walk out at the other.
The part of the marina most people will use hasn't opened yet
Show weekend brings a crowd to the river. The thing most likely to keep bringing residents back is a restaurant. Nellie's Boatyard is going into the former Joe's Crab Shack building on the marina property, which many longtime locals still know as the old Chart House.
The restaurant comes from Leonard Lemmer, who owns Nervous Nellie's on Fort Myers Beach. The plans call for:
- 82 floor-to-ceiling windows facing the Caloosahatchee
- A menu built around aged steaks and fresh seafood
- About half the menu from Nervous Nellie's, with the other half new
The Business Observer reported in August that the plans include seating for 250 diners, a 40-seat circular bar and more than 100 employees.
Lemmer described it to the News-Press as somewhere between the Chart House and Joe's Crab Shack:
"We signed a 25-year lease so it's going to be there long after I'm gone. It won't be fine dining. It'll be relaxed dining."
Don't plan a boat show dinner there. The marina's announcement says the restaurant will open in late 2026. The newer News-Press report, from Oct. 17, targets a debut just after New Year's. Either way, it's a target and not a firm date, and interior work and landscaping are still underway. For now, a boat show day downtown still ends at the River District's existing restaurants.
The bigger Legacy plan is still a long way off
The marina and the restaurant are the parts of the Legacy Harbour site that exist today. The two-tower riverfront project you may have read about is a much longer-term idea. Gulfshore Business reported that the city approved 377 units for the site, above the usual 290-unit allowance. The possible mix included apartments, condos and hotel units, a retail and restaurant galleria, and roughly 37,000 square feet of public gathering space, with a park and a riverfront walkway giving the public access to the marina.
That same report said the owners still needed an investor. It also said the approval gives them five years to apply for permits and eight years to break ground, and that the full project could take about a decade if it moves forward. The public walkway and park are part of that future plan, not something you can use today. The News-Press calls a full mixed-use waterfront destination an "overall distant goal."
After the boats leave
The downtown boat show is the first big date on November's calendar, and more follows. Edison & Ford Winter Estates holds its Autumn Garden Festival Nov. 21 and 22 and its Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26. Holiday Nights starts Nov. 27 and runs nightly from 5:30 to 9 p.m. through Jan. 3, except Dec. 24 and 25. If Nellie's Boatyard hits its post-New Year's target, it would open just as Holiday Nights ends.
Spending boat show weekend downtown and thinking about what a riverfront address near the River District looks like these days? I've spent 17 years in remodeling, so I look at waterfront homes and condos for how the docks, the views and the finishes hold up, not just the listing photos. Michael Kussmann can walk you through it. Let's start your move with a free home valuation, or call Mike today.
