The historic Bank of Everglades building – in the heart of Everglades City – received welcome news in December 2022.

Three million dollars in federal funding to help rehabilitate the building was approved by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden as part of the $1.7 trillion fiscal year 2023 Ominbus Appropriations Bill.

According to the Everglades Society for Historic Preservation, the funding will be used for stabilizing the building and its foundation. The building opened as the Bank of Everglades in 1927. After the bank relocated in 1962, the building was used as a rooming house, a newspaper office and a bed and breakfast. It has been vacant since 2017.

The building’s first floor is slated to become the permanent home for the Everglades Area Visitor Center and Trail Town headquarters in southern Collier County. Everglades City, which is known as the gateway to the Ten Thousand Islands and home to several paddling trails, was designated a “Florida Trail Town” by the Florida Greenways and Trails Council in 2019.

Preservation officials praised U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart for helping secure the funding, which came from Transportation, Housing and Urban Development for community and economic development.
“We cannot thank Congressman Diaz-Balart enough for his direction, guidance and support of our important project,” Patty Huff, ESHP president, said in a news release.