CAPE ROMANO, Fla. — An abandoned coastal home whose land has been claimed by the sea may find new life as an artificial reef.
The dome home, built by Bob and Margaret Lee starting in 1980, is a local landmark and an otherworldly tourist attraction to those who can get near it, generally by boat. But hurricanes that broke its windows, scoured its concrete and eroded its beach have turned the originally eco-friendly house into an eyesore, said Wayne Hasson, founder and president of the Naples, Fla.-based Oceans for Youth.
"Eventually, they're going to be all the way in the sea," he said of the geodesic domes that once were. "Now's the best time to get these things moved. They're useless where they are."
Hasson started Oceans for Youth in 1999 to educate children about marine life and ecosystems. With the help of a Naples lawyer, the group is trying to raise $2.2 million to remove and sink the dome homes somewhere off the coast of Collier County, Fla.But as of Sunday, the nonprofit had raised $210 on the crowdfunding site Plumfund.com.
The idea for the artificial reef came from Lisa Fleming of Naples, who reached out to both present owner John Tosto and Oceans for Youth.Her plan is to donate Tosto's three or so acres, now under water, to the nonprofit, she said. Once the money is raised, the six domes would be moved onto barges to be relocated beneath the sea.
In its heyday, the dome home, about 5 miles south of Marco Island, Fla., had solar panels to generate electricity and heat water and a cistern to gather rain. The Lee family, originally from Tennessee, lived in the three-bedroom, three-bath, 2,400-square-foot house for two years that Bob Lee built from 1980 to 1982 before selling in 1984.
The Lees regained it in 1987 in foreclosure, and their daughter, her husband and grandchild lived there until Hurricane Andrew damaged its interior, blowing in the windows. In September 2005, Tosto bought the property, originally five lots in a 47-lot subdivision, with plans to restore the home as a weekend retreat.
But about a month later Hurricane Wilma struck, causing significant damage and heavy beach erosion. When the county deemed the dome home uninhabitable in 2007, officials started piling up fines, saying the structure had to be brought up to code or removed.
Collier County has fined Tosto $250 a day for the past 3,144 days for a total of $786,000. If the home is donated for this reef project, county spokeswoman Kate Albers said commissioners could vote to waive the fines.Because of the encroaching waters and disrepair, Collier County tax officials decreased the assessed value of the property to $125 in 2014 from $100,000 the previous year, what had been a steady erosion from its $300,000 purchase price in 2005.
Tim Hall, a marine engineer with Turrell, Hall & Associates in Naples, began working on the property when Tosto bought it. He said they had secured permits to move the domes further along the beach when Hurricane Wilma came through Oct. 24, 2005, eroding too much of the shore to make relocation possible.Tosto has had his hands tied ever since, said Hall, who remembers seeing the domes being built when he was a kid.
"When you go down that part of the coast, that's always one of the things you look for," he said.
Attempts to reach Tosto, who lives in both Naples and the Boston area, for comment were unsuccessful, but lawyer Timothy Cotter has been working with him since he bought the property.
"I'm not too familiar with the status of how title sits," Cotter said. "But I wouldn't say this is a way for John to get it off his plate. I think he realized with the shift in the land that it's the best use for those homes, and it would be kind of cool to restore them in a different light."The county began sinking concrete last year as part of a large-scale reef project with 36 sites about 10 to 28 miles off shore, spanning from off Cape Romano to between Gordon Pass and Doctors Pass. Officials believe that project will have an economic impact of $30 million a year once complete because of dollars and the jobs created surrounding the reef.
While officials have yet to designate a spot for this reef, Hasson hopes to have the domes placed offshore an equal distance from Naples and Marco Island. How many miles will have be determined through talks with officials.
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