Q: Demolition is almost complete on the old Long John Silver’s on the East Trail. Do you know what the plans are for that property? — Ali Mick, Naples  

A: The freestanding space on U.S. 41 East best remembered as a Long John Silver’s franchise is being redeveloped for a Women’s Care Center in East Naples.  

Although the fast-food seafood chain closed its location at 3015 Tamiami Trail E. in October 2011, many remember it occupying that highly visible half-acre more than a decade later. Long John Silver’s operated at that location since the late ’70s – more than 30 years. The restaurant lost its drive-thru lane when the East Trail was widened about 15 years ago, but the business hung in there for a few more years.  

Long John Silver’s signature blue roof and yellow-peaked cupola disappeared more than a decade ago. Then, the 2,165-square-foot structure was briefly home to Sunshine Gold Buyers, a secondhand dealer of precious metals that paid cash for gold and silver. The building was completely refurbished inside and out a few years ago but the space remained vacant.   

Just two summers ago, Collier County records show that a potential buyer wanted to convert the existing building and parking lot into a restaurant with outdoor dining, including a rooftop seating area. Those early plans obviously didn’t materialize.  

Now the 45-year-old building has been demolished to make way for a new building for a Women’s Care Center, confirmed Katherine Kelly, national outreach director for Women’s Care Center Inc., headquartered in South Bend, Indiana. Women’s Care Center has 34 centers in 12 states, including one Florida location in Fort Pierce.  

“We originally planned to renovate the small building at that site, get open and then build an addition after a year or two. But after the hurricane, our contractors are advising we undertake this project in one phase because the timeline will be the same either way and ultimately it will cost much less,” the Women’s Care Center reports on its website.  

Targeted to open next spring to serve the Naples area, the prenatal consultation center will provide free, confidential counseling, support and education for pregnant women, as well as free pregnancy testing and ultrasound imaging tests. The new center will operate under the direction of a licensed medical doctor as its director, according to county records.  

Women’s Care Center purchased the commercial property for $1.26 million in October 2021. A demolition permit was issued this spring to Wildcat Renovation of Fort Myers. MK Architecture and PBS Contractors have been tapped to design and build the center on the northeast corner of Bayside Street and Tamiami Trail East, records show.  

Women’s Care Center’s mission is to help pregnant women from its communities choose life for their babies, have healthier pregnancies, become better parents and take the first steps to self-sufficiency. The Naples center hopes to replicate the formula that has made Women’s Care Center successful in other communities.   

In 2022, more than 700 babies were reported as being aborted in Collier County. Women’s Care Center hopes to prevent at least 300 abortions in its first year in East Naples.  

Women’s Care Center also hopes its new location will be as eye-catching as the old Long John Silver’s restaurant. “With a big, hot pink sign, 30,000 people a day will see us driving along Tamiami Trail,” the organization notes on its website.  

New destiny  

Q: I’m only wondering what those colorful buildings being built on Immokalee Road are going to be. — Vicki Martin, Naples  

A: Destiny Learning Center plans to relocate this year to a new structure on Immokalee Road that features a series of gable roofs alternately outlined in aqua, lavender, magenta and yellow. The highly visible private school at 10610 Immokalee Road is an outreach of Destiny Church Naples, which plans to eventually build a new chapel on the adjacent property where horse stables previously were part of Stone Ranch Inc. Destiny Church purchased the more than 35 acres between Wilson and Collier boulevards for $3 million in March 2019.  

The development project’s first phase, a more than 17,000-square-foot day care center for an estimated 200 children, nears completion on a new private roadway constructed between Krape and Rivers roads on the south side of Immokalee Road, according to plans filed with Collier County’s Growth Management Department. On the other side of that new road — what is proposed to be named Destiny Lane — a nearly 20,000-square-foot church with 700 seats is planned for a future phase of construction, plans show.  

The new chapel would replace the local church’s existing sanctuary at 6455 Hidden Oaks Lane in North Naples. The church moved to that space in 2014 from Hampton Inn Naples, where the nondenominational church started with six people in 2007, said Sandy Yuhas, minister of finance for Destiny Church Naples. The local congregation has grown considerably since its start, Yuhas said. 

“We’re knocking on almost 2,000 people that call the church their home,” she said.  

The Destiny Learning Center, a faith-based day care, has operated since 2014 at 2550 Northbrooke Plaza Drive, off Immokalee Road in North Naples. Next month, the church plans to move the day care center more than 5 miles east to the newly built space. The center will start occupying its new space on Aug. 11, Yuhas said.  

Accredited by the Florida Coalition of Private Schools Association, the center encourages play-based learning. Its mission is to welcome all families and celebrate each child as a gift from God.  

“Our goal is to offer a safe, nurturing environment that will help your child become more well-rounded,” according to its website. “Our daily schedule of activities and Christian values enhance your child’s mental and physical growth along with their social and emotional development through individual care, love and attention.”  

The church also plans to repurpose some of the structures on the old ranch. The existing two-story house temporarily will be church offices and the large open-air arena also will be used, Yuhas said. “Plans are to modify it where we don’t lose that unique structure,” she said.  

Additional projects proposed for the property include a children’s wing for the church and an open-air amphitheater behind the chapel that could seat about 200, Yuhas said.   

“Our goal is family events. We are aiming everything toward the family,” she said. “When it’s all done it will be lovely. We are excited to reach more people for the love of Christ.”  

The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim.aten@naplespress.com.