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Modern Marco
The era of modern Marco came about with the arrival of the Mackle brothers in the guise of the Deltona Corporation. Skilled at raising communities from scratch, they purchased the entire island from the heirs of Barron Collier and set about creating a modern paradise. They opened with a huge fanfare in 1965, and 25,000 people showed up. The venture was resoundingly successful until the Wetlands Act forced the Corps of Engineers to withdraw permits for the construction, and Deltona had to scale back it ambitious plans. The Marco Island Historical Museum will display an exhibit on Modern Marco.
LORE OF MODERN MARCO ISLAND, 1960'S
"As long as there's sunshine, as long as the tides rise and fall, people the world over want to come to Florida to live, work, retire and vacation." Frank Mackle III
Deltona development of the mid ‘60s is perhaps the most ambitious hydro-engineering project ever attempted. In 1965, Deltona Corporation introduced a new level of coastal engineering, creative land development, at the highest level of integrity. The story needs to be told, and the documents must be preserved in a museum for future generations.
Although, it is generally understood that the beginning of the "modern" period on the island was mid 1960's neverthless the island was so undeveloped at that time that it had a distinct "pioneer feeling."
Men such as Frank Mackle, James Vensel, Neil Bahr, Herbert Savage, Leonard Llewellyn, James Stackpoole, and C. Edward Hinkly wrestled with the elements fully as much as the Barfields', Stephens', Ludlows', Pettits' and Colliers' had sixty-five years earlier.
The modern developers met on the island and drove along the beach in each direction seeing only sand, sea oats, and pelicans; and in one direction the abandoned missile tracking station lost in the distance.
"Marco only had two thoroughfares: SR 92 started at the Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) and entered the island on an ancient wooden swing bridge installed in 1938 after being barged down from its original site in Fort Myers. On the island the road continued to the beach. Midway through Marco Island it crossed the other road 953, the island's original pathway," according to Douglas Waitley in "The Last Paradise."
At that time the island had the barest roadways, no public transportation, meager business opportunity, and little, if anything in the way of utilities. Island living was more akin to backwoods living, isolated with a few conveniences. Early residents had to bear the hardship of traveling 20 miles or more to buy the necessities. Even at this late date in the century after almost 100 years of occupancy, Marco Island had only two residential pockets where life resembled the 20th Century in Goodland and in what is now Old Marco.
The plans were formulated to use the 6,800 acres on the island, plus creating dry land out of the swampland. reading like a real estate add: the company designed a housing development consisting of 7500 acres that would house 35,000 people in 11,000 homes, and 9,000 multi-family apartments. Plans for recreational facilities, golf courses, boating facilities, and shopping locations were planned to attract buyers to this location so remote from civilization. One hundred acres were set aside for commercial buildings for shopping centers. the company had done nothing like it before. It was the gorgeous sugar sand beach that beckoned them to try.
 
The first ten years were good years. In that time, Marco Island was a state-of-the-art development as opposed to piecemeal or leapfrog development of unincorporated areas where no public utilities and roads were adequately available. Major rezoning occurred to control growth, but by then mobile home parks and a few scattered developments had already created little residential pockets far away from the services needed to support them. such pockets created real environmental problems. A mobile home park used Henderson Creek that empties into Rookery Bay for its sewage treatment out fall.
The specter of a new federal agency, the EPA, created in 1971 entered the picture and enacted new legislation that allowed the federal government to exert greater control over wetlands. Through the Federal Water Quality Protection Act the EPA could now veto any approvals of the U . S. Army Corps of Engineers, which had had this authority dating back to 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act. Deltona won state approval in 1974 to proceed with development of the three permit areas but had to deed back $20 mnillion in wetlands to the state, including Kice Island. The permits for Big Key and Barfield Bay were denied. It was a stunning long-term blow to the company. Through a tradeoff in 1982 Deltona won approval to develop the uplands in the Collier Read Track; but had to trade off 15,000 acres of mangroves to the state. Between 1979 and 1983 the county building department permitted the construction of 6,343 condominiums, of which most were high-rise on the beach. From 1977 a big building boom resulted in: 1,230 homes, 500 built by outside builders; 1,500 condominiums and 150 rental apartments; 94 miloes of waterway bulk heading; 90 miles of roads; and 161 miles of water, sewer andgas mains.
Town Center with its 19 stores was complete, four churches, expanded elementary school with 400 students, new branch county library, telephone exchange, fire department, medical clinic, airport withing 5,000 foot run way, two golf courses, 11 parks and playgrounds, and four yacht club and marina facilities. Real Estate sales reached $250,000,000. In Deltona's heyday morn than 4,100 people worked for the company. Afterthe permits were denied in 1971, Deltona set about liquidating its assets.
Post Deltona
Other builders have filled in the gaps since the heyday of the Mackles, and Marco is now an independent city with a permanent population of 15,000 that swells to almost 40,000 in the winter season.
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