CAPE CORAL, Fla. - It was 2:45 a.m. Tuesday morning when the Cape Coral City Council voted to reject the National Swim Center proposal in a 5-to-3 vote. The vote came as part of a marathon 12-hour meeting.

With this vote, the City Council members have officially killed the plan to bring a national swimming complex to the city, but notably, they voted in favor of a new development in the downtown area of Cape Coral. It was a project that proponents say could have brought national swimming events, hotels and a convention center to Cape Coral.

The council spent several hours discussing the language of an agreement that would have advanced the project to contract talks. Several council members opposed the $25 million bill that the city would have to foot in order to fund utilities and road improvements. The final deal-killer came in the form of request to essentially donate the 171-acre city-owned site to the National Swim Center Corporation.

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