Spring 'Breakers'—Cope ©N Down!
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DtNING & ENTCRT i OUTSIDE, ENVIRONMENT, SPORTS — PAGES 19-21 I BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID SANIBEL, FL. PERMIT #33 POSTAL PATRON Vol. 37, No. 8 Friday, February 27, 1998 Two Sections, S2 pages 75 Cents .Spring 'Breakers'—Cope ©n Down! Stolen Sculpture Thieves make off with a 200- pound glass sculpture from the foyer of the Sanibel Public ' Library, .....See page 3A Palms Gone ' ;:: The palms which decorated the Sanibel Causeway for a Blazer commercial are now gone — ( dead or given away. Seepage 3A The Future? Sanibel Planning Commissioners and others look at the future of Sanibel Island in this first of a two-part series. Seepage8A BIG Arts Here is what's happening at BIG Arts in March. Seepage 17B I Arts. 7B Business Services .. 25A Cartoon 17A City News 7B Classifieds 22-25A Commentary ... 16-18A Crossword 23B Fishing 21B Police Beat 7A F 1 ft d Chervl Clark rieht pose at Periwinkle Trailer Park's Mardi Gras celebration Monday. Helen and her husband Remember When.... 5k Zst7d thewUd and zany poslparade party. And ifs not even Spring Break! More photos, 10A. Photo/Anne Belle* Vic F 2ft: Chamber riles some members with "cen-res" plan ByJILLTYRER said John Naumann, owner of 1-800-SANIBEL, a cen- tral reservation business, "but then maybe occupancy Isfander staff writer If accommodations businesses choose won't be as high. They'll go to Fort Myers Beach." Some say it will give island businesses a boost; oth- Jay Halcrow, marketing and sales director for West ers say it will undermine them and put the Chamber of not to participate, in the Chamber's Wind Inn, doesn't agree. "We pay 10 percent to travel Commerce — to which they pay membership dues — in central reservation service, they agents anyway," she said, and they send an awful lot of competition with them. business to the inn. Furthermore, she doesn't think visi- The Chamber of Commerce plans to offer with a would lose out Chamber reservations. tors would be scared off by the increase. "We are a high- central reservations service and it's an issue that has hit a priced destination," she said. "The people we want to at- nerve with some folks in the accommodations business. tract are going to be attracted to higher quality. They re- After a couple of heated meetings last week, the board of spect what we have here," such as the natural and cultural directors agreed Tuesday to meet with two spokesmen tions... because they can't book immediately," said Board Chairman Dian Eddy. According to surveys, "15 percent offerings, and they come to Sanibel and Captiva because for the opposition in a special meeting set for March 10, they like the islands. "You don't come here to boogie all said Ken Stocke, one of those who opposes the move. of the calls possibly could have been turned into bookings." "Our goal is to see an increase in the occupancy on night or trash the beach." The board decided Jan. 16 — in a unanimous vote, Businesses would not have to participate in the ser- said Executive Director David Besse — to move forward the islands, which should generate more revenue [for all island businesses]," Besse said, lengthening tourist sea- vice, Besse said, nor would they be obligated to do all with a plan to provide a "central reservation" system. What their bookings through the Chamber. For example, Sani- that means is when potential visitors call the Sanibel-Cap- son and attracting more summertime visitors. "We've been doing reservations for dozens of years ... for walk-ins. bel Accommodations decision-makers have not commit- tiva Islands Chamber of Commerce, they can not only ted to the system, said General Manager Keith request information about where to stay, they can actu- The only difference is we [would] send them.onto the property to check in." McMenamy, but if it were to participate, it would do its ally book a room or rental. own booking during tourist season, when it's easy to fill If someone were to call and ask about accommoda- Out-pricing visitors? units, but let the Chamber help out in slow September. tions, for example, the Chamber representative would find But that is not the only difference, critics say. For The service is only available to businesses that handle out their needs -— price range, hotel or rental, small or one thing, the Chamber would charge participating busi- three or more properties and that have a front desk, large, on the beach or not — and narrow the list to a cer- nesses for the service. Businesses could either pay the McMenamy said. tain group of participating businesses that fit those needs. Chamber a 10 percent commission, Besse said, or through The business topping the list would rotate. The service But if they don't participate, they'll be left out of the an arrangement that would allow them to tack an extra loop, critics say. "If you don't get on the bandwagon, you're would not preempt those customers who directly contact charge onto customers' bills. Of approximately 600 Cham- a business. out as far as reservations [from the Chamber]," Cross said. ber members, about 70 could participate. " It's true that they would lose out on those book- It's a concept that first came up at a board retreat a Those proceeds would go toward the operating cost, year and a half ago, Besse said, and he expects to see it up ings, Besse said, but that will represent only a small pro- Besse said, and anything left over would go toward mar- portion of their bookings. s and running by summer. keting the islands. How many calls could potentially book through the As to the 10 percent cost, he said, it's a small por- But Revonda Cross, owner of Properties in Paradise, tion compared to the 90 percent the business takes in. And Chamber? Last year, about 25,000 people contacted the objects to raising her rates to accommodate the charge. Chamber for information about accommodations, Besse these are reservations the business may very well not nor- "Sanibel has a market and a price that it will bear," she mally get, he said. said. Based on the experience of other central reserva- said. "If we continue to take this view of 'Let the tenant/ tions services, he estimates the Chamber would handle "If a small business or a large business would like visitor pay,'" those people eventually will seek other desti- to receive potential revenue through the Chamber, then about 15 percent of a business's total bookings. nations. "We think we're losing customers to other destina- Island businesses can raise rates to cover the cost, (Continued, page 27A) Contemporary 3'bedroom, 3 bath with Wonderful Mediterranean style water Three Bedroom, plus Den custom de- office/den on prestigious Lighthouse front home featuring fabulous master signed residence offering scenic views Way. Dockage and draft for large sail bedroom suite, custom wood cabinetry, of the, 13th fairway at The Sanctuary. boats. A must see for yacht owner. Of- Mexican tiled floors, heated pool plus This home is offered completely fur- fered for $774,900. Boat Dockage. Offered for $550,000. nishedfor $895,000. Let my experience and proven marketing program sell your Island property! . • • • ' • » Prudential Florida Realty 1020 Periwinkle Way Sanibel, FL 33957 „ , „ (800) 245-7284 • (941) 472-4000 Broker-Manager ISLANDER • Friday, February, 27, 1998 • 3A The Front Page Dolphin sculpture stolen from Sanibel Library ByJILLTYRER Islander staff writer The dolphin sculpture had languished for years in City Hall before it was moved to the Sanibel Public Library, where more people would appreciate it. Apparently it was appreciated a little too much because someone has stolen it. ¥ K, "It made me really sick to my stomach when I heard about it," said island artist Lucas Century, who created the glass sculpture. "I got (^ ^ a call from Pat Allen [Monday]," he said. "It was a pretty emotional call. She said 'Please / '••< •• // me Y/ tell me you have the sculpture.'" "The whole thing is really sickening," he said, especially because the sculpture was cre- ated to honor the City's 15th anniversary in 1989. "It was conceived by the Islander," Cen- tury said. The City didn't have any particular An artist's rendering of the sculpture Luc Century, left, and Gary Price, right, with the sculpture in 1990. (Continued, page 4A) Palm trees left from filming rescued from causeway ByJILLTYRER for the filming. Islander staff writer It was sort of a goodwill gesture, but the palms didn't stand a chance: They were queen If you've driven across the causeway re- palms, said Paul Wmgard, director of operations cently, you might have noticed a slight change — for Lee County Department of Transportation. other than the bumper-to-bumper traffic and the "They're not a suitable tree ... out there on the plethora of dead birds. island." The new palm trees are gone. The queen palm, he said, is an "inland- After the Chevy Blazer commercial was type palm, as opposed to the coconut palm." filmed on the causeway in mid-January — anyone Over the few weeks after the production who was here will remember the gridlock traffic company left, the palms could be seen in vari- well -— the production company, Industrial Light ous states: Wooden frames were built around & Magic, left behind about 45 palm trees planted many of them as braces, but the fairly frequent (Continued, page 6k) Who lies in the grave? The Phantom is coming By EDWARD B.