Thursday, October 22, 2026
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Lee County

FGCU closes parking around Alico Arena from 5 p.m. Thursday and warns of intermittent closures on Ben Hill Griffin Parkway for Friday's Trump rally

In short

Parking around Alico Arena at Florida Gulf Coast University, including the lots for the Aquatics Center, tennis complex, beach volleyball facility, baseball, softball and soccer stadiums and parts of North Lake Village, closes from 5 p.m. Thursday, October 22, 2026, until noon Saturday, October 24. Parking garages 1 to 4 are unavailable to students and employees from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and the university expects congestion and intermittent road closures on parts of Ben Hill Griffin Parkway and at the FGCU Lake Parkway North entrance, according to the campus alert reported by WGCU.

Money & World
The Editorial Team ·
An underground parking garage under fluorescent light, with blue and white painted columns, a closed roller shutter and two red and white traffic cones; a few parked cars sit in the shadows with no legible plates, signs or markings. A generic parking illustration, not a photograph of this event. Stock photo
Stock photo. Not the actual scene. Photo: Optical Chemist / Pexels

Florida Gulf Coast University is closing the parking around Alico Arena from 5 p.m. Thursday, October 22, until noon Saturday, October 24, ahead of President Trump's rally at the arena on Friday, WGCU reported from a campus-wide university alert. The closed area takes in the lots for the Aquatics Center, the tennis complex, the beach volleyball facility, the baseball, softball and soccer stadiums, and parts of North Lake Village.

Ben Hill Griffin Parkway on Friday

The university alert warns of roadway congestion and intermittent road closures along portions of Ben Hill Griffin Parkway and at the north entrance to campus at FGCU Lake Parkway North. The alert gives no fixed closure times. Drivers who use the parkway between Estero and the airport area should allow extra time on Friday.

Campus parking and classes

Parking garages 1, 2, 3 and 4 are unavailable to students and employees from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. Employees are told to use the surface lots on the main campus or park at the Sugden Welcome Center. FGCU is not canceling classes, but encourages faculty to move Friday courses online where they can.

The FAA has also restricted the airspace around Fort Myers from 12:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. Friday. More news for the area is on the Fort Myers page.

Questions readers are asking

When does parking around Alico Arena close for the Trump rally?
From 5 p.m. Thursday, October 22, 2026, until noon Saturday, October 24, according to FGCU's campus alert as reported by WGCU.
Will Ben Hill Griffin Parkway be closed on October 23?
FGCU's alert says roadway congestion and intermittent road closures are expected along portions of Ben Hill Griffin Parkway and at the north campus entrance at FGCU Lake Parkway North. It does not give fixed closure times.
Are FGCU classes canceled on Friday, October 23?
No. The university is not canceling classes, but encourages faculty to move Friday courses online where appropriate, WGCU reported.

Where we read it: WGCU Staff at WGCU. Read their story.

The document: No public filing has been released.

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