(The following was taken from the November 6,
1987 Boca Beacon. We included this not only because
of the Hotel Hell aspects, but because it is very relevant
to issues we are still experiencing today with code
enforcement.)
They’re razing “Hell” in Boca Grande, and most
residents think it’s about time.
Actually, Copper Nail owner-architect Rick
Thurkow wants to give “Hotel Hell” a facelift, and
renovate the 70-year-old structure next to the
Barnichol hardware store.
Workers are expected to fi nish the $150,000
renovation next summer and there will be little to
recognize when compared to the original structure.
Thurkow expects to use as much of the original
building as possible and will tear out only the bad
wood. But the internal design will take a drastic
detour from the current dilapidated mess within.
Plans call for at least two commercial retail stores,
a couple of offi ces and four apartments located
in the rear of the building. The interior will feature
spiral staircases and a massive fi ve or 600-gallon
aquarium loaded with local denizens of the deep.
Thurkow even plans to open the laundry room in
back because, as he said “there seems to be a great
need for it.”
“We want to maintain as much of the original
building and siding as we can,” he said. “And I may
keep the name. I thought about changing it, but I
started working with the county and I would tell
the building and zoning offi cials about the building
next to the Barnichol and they’d say, ‘Oh. You mean
Hotel Hell.’ It’s like people’s fascination with the street
names Damifi care and Damifi will.”
Thurkow researched “Hell’s” history, and as close
as he can tell it was built in1920. Just who designed
and built it is unclear. In its glory days the building had
everything from a beauty salon called Blonnie’s to an
eatery for Gasparilla Inn help.
As can be imagined, Thurkow ran into problems
in an effort to get the proper permits to renovate.
Indeed, he spent almost two years haggling with
building and zoning offi cials.
Such legal wrangling may change soon if Lee
County approves a historical district ordinance and
Thurkow said Boca Grande may be targeted as the
fi rst site.
68 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE May/June 2020
“Boca Grande is like four or fi ve other
places in the county that don’t conform to current
zoning laws,” Thurkow said. “So Lee County wants
to make a special zoning designation so that most
things unacceptable under current zoning regulations
would be allowed.
“I think a historical district would only be positive
because it’s being done to circumvent strict state
regulations and it would allow owners to renovate.”
Creighton Sherman, executive director of the
Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement
Association, said Thurkow’s problems regarding the
permitting process is an example of what property
owners face in their attempts to renovate a barrier
island.
Bill Spikowski, principal planner with Lee
County Planning Department, said the new
ordinance establishing a historical district has met
with favorable reviews from Boca Grande architects,
residents and the GICIA.
Designating an area as a historical district would
provide property owners with an extra opportunity
for relief from all kinds of county codes when a
property owner seeks to renovate or add on to an
existing building in the district, he said.
Instead of having to go through a number of
different county departments to obtain the
proper permits, the owner would receive special
consideration. Owners would get relief from strict
fi re codes, fl ood-plain regulations, building and zoning
codes, life-safety codes and whatever other codes
the county requires when renovating or adding on,
Spikowski said.
“The ordinance would give building offi cials the
right to give owners form leeway,” he said. “Rick
(Thurkow) gave us some real horror stories with
respect to problems he had while trying to get
building permits and bring an old building up to code.
The historical district ordinance is a super idea.”
Spikowski added that Boca Grande is in line to be
the fi rst area in the county selected as a historical
district. That could take six to eight months if county
commissioners pass the ordinance, he said.
The area under consideration for historical
designation includes most of downtown, the
Railroad Depot, Gasparilla Inn, and virtually every
home on Gilchrist, Park, Palm, Tarpon, Lee and
Banyan Streets, he said. There may be other old
buildings given a specifi c designation and handpicked
for their historical signifi cance.
They’re razing “Hell”