$15 Million Federal Grant to Build New Sanibel Island Police Station

Construction on Sanibel's new police station will proceed after the Lee County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement with the city to use a federal grant to fund the project. The department's office flooded during Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. 

"Everything that was ground level got destroyed," said Chief William Dalton of the Sanibel Police Department. 

The Board of County Commissioners awarded the $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to Sanibel on September 16, 2025. Commissioners had to approve an agreement with the city to use the funding. 

Before the hurricanes of the past four years, Sanibel planned to build a new station for the roughly 50-member department, but the scale of damage across the island made moving forward with the project seem unthinkable. 

"It was tough just to get by, let alone build a new building that we thought at that time was going to be ten, maybe $12 million. That's a huge undertaking for a small community," Dalton said. 

He expressed optimism about the project. 

"It's something that will last the community 50 to 100 years, and it'll help serve the community extensively in the future, you know, so we're excited to get this going," Dalton said. 

The city aims to complete the new police station by 2029.

— Gulf Coast News Contribution