A “BRIEF” HISTORY OF EPNA, Inc. - listing notable 1st’s, successes & supported causes. Always a work in progress…

1989 – Crimes spawn 1st EP Neighborhood Watch; Randi Fitzgerald of Ardmore Rd. is the 1st Coordinator of 13 block captains from Sandra Dr. to Congress St., reporting incidents & delivering newsletters, monthly, for years! (You know who you are – Thank YOU!) Edison Park holds its 1st Holiday Party PotLuck at the Edison Park Triangle. Santa Claus visits with the kids. The event becomes an annual Christmas/Hanukkah tradition.

1990 – EP Residents Assoc’n, Inc. is formed. Sally Grace of Marlyn Rd. is 1st President, holding MONTHLY meetings at EP School auditorium for years. The 1st of several City “Meet the Candidates Night” is held. Presidents since then: Ken Berry, Jack Mutzabaugh, Bob Ernst, Ken Wooley, Anna Withrow, Joyce Ryan, Frank Balogh, Craig McLean, Lin Bochette, Steve Belcher/Cheri O’Mailia, Ryan Taylor, Phil Plaskon…   

Also in 1990 – City staffers meet with an EPRA Committee of 6 residents to formulate the official City policy document, “Edison Park Neighborhood Plan”, adopted by City Council on May 21st. Its goals now read like a Bucket List, checked off! Read The Plan at Edison Park Neighborhood Plan 1990.

1991 – Edison Park celebrates its 65th birthday (April 7, 1926), with residents and “Thomas Edison” (character) on his estate, & with special guest James D. Newton, developer of EP’s northern 1/3. Kids enjoy cake & a pinata. Horse & buggy rides take residents around EP.

1993 – Cortez Blvd.’s median, at the time a barren stretch of weedy grass dotted with royals, is lushly landscaped, paid by Lee Memorial Hospital. They committed to its maintainence for several years, to beautify the hospital’s surrounding neighborhood of Edison Park.

1994 – Plans by a neighborhood major entity to change EP’s single-family zoning, while secretly buying many EP homes for community service usage, emerge. Several meetings with those involved end without resolution. Residents mobilize to City Hall, with attorney in tow, for several public hearings, to fight encroachment & maintain the current zoning. Thankfully, plans were denied by the Zoning Board and Board of Adjustments. Also, on Christmas Eve Day, residents place hundreds of white liminary bags along curbs of the oldest section of EP (northern third) and light them at sunset. The one-night illumination, attracting many passersby, becomes an annual tradition.

1995 – To help protect EP’s charm, history and single-family homes, the goal of becoming an historic district is persued, with success. Over many months, EP homes are researched for year built, architecture/style, building materials and notable early occupants, as part of the application process, and is accompanied by a written narrative of the significance of EP’s history & its asset to the City since 1926. On Nov. 8th, City Council approves Edison Park as Fort Myers 1st Local Historic District.

Also in 1995 – The history of Edison Park is compiled by resident Cheri O’Mailia, from interviews with former early residents & archives found at various resources (prior to the internet). Read “The History of Edison Park” (always a work in progress) here: www.EdisonParkFortMyers.org/ep-history.

1996 - For EP’s 70th Birthday, “Edison Park Tour of Homes & Gardens” is sponsored by the Lee Trust for Historic Preservation, Inc. Nine homes & gardens are on display for the paying public of 600 attendees. Large storyboards in front of each home show photos and historic tidbits of interest. Roberta Sandler, author of “Guide to Florida Historical Walking Tours” is featured, with Edison Park as a book chapter. Event profits help rehab local historic structures through the Lee Trust. Also in 1996, the City surveys EP residents for new streetlighting, proposing a 10-year Special Assessment. The project is opposed by +60% as a whole. However, +60% of EP’s Sandra Dr. support it and streetlights are installed at a cost of $7-8/mo. per address over the next 10 years. Homeowners enjoy their adequately lighted, safer neighborhood.

1997 – The City’s plans for a skateboard park at Lions Park are thwarted after residents voice opposition to the noise and extra traffic, particularly during large competitions. The skateboard park, instead, is moved to the Skatium complex. Also, residents push to have oak trees planted along Newton Ave. behind Lee Memorial Hospital to help cut their huge generators’ noise.

1998 – EPRA moves its meetings, now quarterly, to Thomas A. Edison Congregational Church on Llewellyn Dr., thanks to then Pastor Joseph Cooke. Meetings continue to be held there, thanks to succeeding pastors. City plans develop to install traffic islands in the largest intersections of EP and also to expand EP Triangle, with one-way signage and crosswalks. EPRA opposes the reconfigurations and plans are dropped.

1999 – Edison Park Residents Association, Inc. is renamed Edison Park Neighborhood Association, Inc. & files for non-profit status. (This designation expired a number of years ago.) At Christmas/Hanukkah time, EPNA sponsors a Salvation Army’s needy family, and also collects canned goods for the Fort Myers Soup Kitchen, and eventually other .

Also in 1999 – Streetscape “Design Standards” for the Edison Park Historic District’s curbing, sidewalks, street lights & street signs are established with the City's Community Development Dept., based on historical photos, archives & other records, and approved by the City's Historic Preservation Commission.

2000 - The City’s Beautification Advisory Board’s plans for a fountain park at the site of the former Wes Nott Swimming Pool are realized. (Pool and facility are demolished in 1994 due to deterioration. Pushed by EPNA. One EP resident sat on the Board during this time.) See link on Welcome Page.

2004 – Edison Park’s 5 entrance markers (cited in the EP Neighborhood Plan of 1990) are built in place by several residents, at 41/Cortez, Congress/Llewellyn, Cortez/Manuels Branch, Sandra/McGregor and Marlyn/Larchmont. Materials are paid for by residents’ donations & matching City funds (approx. $3,200). Each marker displays a glazed porcelain plaque with “Edison Park Historic District” hand-painted by resident artist Earl Miller of Llewellyn Dr. The marker at the corner of 41/Cortez is designated the EP Time Capsule, with several meaningful items donated by residents & sealed within its cavity.

2016 –  After 3 survey attempts over 20 years, residents finally approve a 10-year Special Assessment for 80-plus new reproduction streetlights & street signs (based on EP’s “Design Standards” of 1999) along roads west of Cortez Blvd. On Oct. 27th, the switch is flipped ON, just in time to shine the way for Halloween trick-or-treaters and safe evening strolls.

2017 – At Christmas/Hanukkah time, the annual lighting of luminary bags is replaced with residents winding rope lighting around the 80-plus streetlights around Edision Park. This lighting, from Thanksgiving until after New Years, becomes an annual tradition.

2017 to 2020 - Under former CEO leadership of Edison & Ford Winter Estates, EP residents learn that homes nearest EFWE's rear gate are being considered for purchase and repurposing by EFWE, unbeknownst to the owners! EPNA fights back and EFWE leadership soon changes, with the hiring of new CEO, Mike Flanders, then-City Councilman, Ward 4.  Longtime EP resident Liston "Lin" Bochette is appointed interim Ward 4 Councilman and, in 2020, is elected for a 4-year term.

2020 - At Christmas/Hanukkah time, and due to the prevailing Co-VID 19 Pandemic, the EPNA replaces the traditional Holiday Party potluck and hires its 1st Food Truck - Rosati’s Pizza, attracting more residents than previous Holiday Parties.

2022 - A squatter home identified in 2019 is finally vacated, after nearby residents and EPNA persist in working with Code Enforcement, Police Dept. and the mortgager. Also, EPNA has its 1st volunteer Spiff-UP Day, choosing a location or a home in need and, afterward, receiving much appreciation for a task well-done! This becomes a periodic endeavor of EPNA.