Downtown Fort Myers eyesore will be gutted top to bottom - The News-Press
Fast-forward eight years, and the 24-story building is mostly stripped naked and shrouded in darkness. But walk through the main entrance into the high-ceiling lobby with a huge chandelier, and images of that storied past clearly linger. With hundreds of empty hotel rooms, emergency lights to illuminate dark corridors and a grand ballroom all to yourself, the inside of the former Amtel Marina Hotel can start to feel like a scene out of "The Shining. In the next 18 months, a crew of about 200 people will convert the high-rise into a 55-and-older independent rental community called Campo Felice – a project slated to cost about $55 million. Red and green spray paint cover the few walls that are still standing, while exposed plumbing and hanging electrical wires of knocked-down walls highlight what used to be. Navigating the hotel through long, dimly lit corridors could cause the hair... Robert DeSantis, director of construction, said it wasn't the first time he has heard references to "The Shining," and some people claimed to have experienced ghosts in the hotel. Source: www.news-press.com
