Today we go back to a moment in time and visit the City Recreation Pier, also known as the “Pleasure Pier,” in Fort Myers; not to be confused with the 1913 City Recreation Pier.
The large complex was built in 1927 just west of the Caloosahatchee River Bridge at the end of Carson Street in what is now Centennial Park.
It was a two-story Moorish-style auditorium known as the “Pleasure Palace” – the center of Fort Myers entertainment (one hosting a birthday party for Thomas Edison). It also had a swimming pool and other recreation facilities. Moorish-style is a decorative art form from medieval Spain and North Africa, that blends Islamic, Persian, Byzantine and local traditions and is characterized by elaborate geometric tilework, intricate stucco, arches and honeycomb ceilings…