It’s been more than 10 months since Charlotte County commissioners unanimously voted to accept their consultant team and staff’s recommendation to demolish the Cultural Center and replace it with a new facility on the 8.03-acre site in Port Charlotte.
At that March 12, 2024, meeting, the total cost wasn’t yet available but was estimated at $46 million and budgeted for fiscal year 2028.
During a Jan. 21 commissioners workshop meeting, county Facilities Director Travis Perdue said a demolition consultant will provide a demolition plan sometime in March.
The only portion of the campus still being used by the public is Port Charlotte Public Library, 2280 Aaron St., which Commissioner Chris Constance called “the little engine that could.” The rest of the campus is unusable and unsafe, with Perdue saying that “everyday we’re picking up pieces off the ground.”
The Cultural Center has been around since the 1960s and was a social gathering place for residents and visitors. It featured shows, classes, arts and crafts, a restaurant, dances, shops and card games, among other activities.
Over the years, the facility fell into disarray and was run by a nonprofit for many years under a lease agreement with the county, which owns the exterior buildings and land.
A 40-year lease was signed in 2020, but the nonprofit pulled out in late 2021 after it couldn’t financially keep running the center due to a lack of revenue during the pandemic.
County staff members conducted an assessment in spring 2022 to determine what was needed to bring the facility into compliance. The price tag was huge: asbestos remediation would cost $152,525, indoor air quality improvements would be some $324,000 and HVAC equipment would cost more than $5.2 million, for a total cost of about $30 million.
After the assessment, Hurricane Ian slammed the area in September 2022.
Since then, the public has been clamoring at commissioners meetings for the county to rebuild and reopen the center that served as a social and educational outlet for the community.
Before moving forward, the center’s use now and in the future will be considered. Constance said the county must “figure out who remains from the last set of users, who will the current set of users be and who will be the future set of users.”
“You don’t want to build something that’s already antiquated before we cut the ribbon,” he said.
Assistant County Administrator Claire Jubb told commissioners that county staff had a kickoff meeting with the consultant three weeks ago, and the county is moving through the process.
In addition to deciding the way the Cultural Center will be used and what features it will have, there are other issues the county must tackle. A stormwater plan, a construction design, funding and the possibility of entering into an agreement with the private sector are being considered.
Market research will be done to reveal the best use of the new center. “We talked about the possibilities of an archive or a museum or something actually cultural with an auditorium,” Constance said.
Constance, who met with residents the previous evening, said the center’s reach “was fairly massive” and its appeal and interest extended beyond the surrounding neighborhoods.
Commissioner Joe Tiseo asked staff to provide an update on the Cultural Center and noted that the county already advanced $750,000 toward it.
