Board approves Hertz Arena new design, some residents still disapprove

There was a noticeable difference between Estero’s Design Review Board meeting back in September and Wednesday.

There were forty plus speakers.

“Right now, what I see is a 20-year-old blue, old arena,” Ted Pantellas said, from Tidewater homeowners association. “This is a big improvement.”

This time around, there are significantly less speakers.

Hertz’ new proposal is to use some yellow around the building. Most of the building will have shades of grey and white.

It places the yellow facing the highway. The white and grey is towards its neighbors.

“I think given the design problem that we had this is a real good solution,” William Glass said, chair of the Estero Design Review Board. “It may not be 100 percent. It may be 98, but I don’t know how he could’ve done it any better.”

The board moved forward with the design, with a few adjustments.

After back and forth input right at the stand.

“We’re just going to take a couple of blocks out to help with the symmetry and the balance of the building,” Eoghan Slye said, a Hertz employee.

Hertz said, it is a win win. It demonstrates that its community feedback system is effective.

“I wonder why you would allow the deviation from the pallet for the color of the building?” Barry Freedman said, a resident.

But some neighbors, still said it is too much. They are unable to get past what these residents call the “intrusive yellow.”

“One of the things I think is the greatest about Estero,” Todd Goodman said, a homeowner, “is the uniformity and the building structures and the color schemes.”

“Yellow is the Hertz color and I get that it’s not everybody’s color,” Slye said. “But I don’t think there’s a color that’s going to make everyone happy.”