Charlotte County Commissioners unanimously voted March 12 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. 

The new facility’s total cost is yet to be determined, but it was estimated at $46 million and is budgeted for fiscal year 2028. 

Before the vote, members of the public were invited to speak, and two of them—Larry McGee and Joan Fisher—urged commissioners to refurbish the Cultural Center and reopen it as soon as possible. They praised its significance in the county.  

Fisher said it was “the heart of Charlotte County.” She has been gathering emails and signed petitions from residents who want their favorite gathering place reopened. 

A third speaker, Donna Barrett, who serves as executive officer of the Charlotte DeSoto Building Industry Association, spoke personally about the Cultural Center. She told the commissioners the center is where friendships were built. “I met each one of you there,” she said. 

As a construction expert, Barrett offered her advice, saying there was too much damage “to ever open the doors again.” 

Later in the meeting, Commissioner Stephen Deutsch said he first went to the Cultural Center in 1968 or 1969 and called it “a key part of our community.” 

Over the years, the facility fell into disarray. It was run by a nonprofit for many years, with a lease agreement with the county, which owned 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 as the pandemic kept people away. 

County staff members conducted an assessment in spring 2022 for what would be 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, HVAC equipment would cost more than $5.2 million, for a total cost of about $30 million. 

The county estimated the cost at $350 per square foot for the 93,000-square-foot Cultural Center. 

However, before any remediation work could be conducted, Hurricane Ian slammed the county and because of its age and condition, every part of the Cultural Center sustained damage. The only area able to continue operating was the Port Charlotte Library portion, which was the only component on the campus that was fully maintained and operated by the county. 

Port Charlotte Library will remain open until Mid-County Regional Library is completed. 

Assistant County Administrator Claire Jubb said the library at the Cultural Center would have had to be demolished anyway, as it is “nearing the end of its life.” 

In its place will be a new library on the Cultural Center campus. 

Commissioner Bill Truex, who is a builder, said the the center needed to be torn down before the hurricane. 

He and Commissioner Joe Tiseo, in answer to those residents who want the Cultural Center open as soon as possible by making repairs only, explained that the county was going to do it right. 

“The outcome needs to be a functional facility,” Truex said. 

Tiseo said the same care in building the new Family Services Center would be applied to the Cultural Center’s construction. 

But Tiseo brought up a financial concern beside the cost of construction now that the county would be in charge of the facility: “Who’s going to operate it? Who’s going to run it?” 

The nonprofit oversaw ongoing maintenance and operation, and “we’re talking about millions of ongoing debt,” Tiseo said. 

Commissioner Ken Doherty, who has a background in engineering, said he favors a two-story building. He said he’s told the public, “we’d take the time to do it right; I want this place to be multigenerational.” 

Travis Perdue, the county’s director of facilities, construction and maintenance; Ray Carter, the county’s risk manager; Todd Sweet of Sarasota-based Sweet Sparkman Architecture and Interiors; and engineer Tim Roane of RWA Inc. spoke during the 64-slide presentation, which revealed the consultants’ findings including cost factors, the results of an online survey and in-person meetings with residents, plus what lies ahead. 

The first phase has just been completed—the online survey, in which more than 50% of the 2,982 respondents said they wanted a theater, fitness classes, social events, the library and enrichment classes for their activities at the Cultural Center. 

More than 50% said they wanted to have shade structures, a farmers’ market, community events, music festivals and food trucks in the outdoor sections of the campus. 

Now, Phase 2 begins, which requires a short-term and long-term funding plan, a master plan, design plan and a public conceptual design plan that will be accomplished by holding meetings with groups of residents.  

Commissioners will discuss the Cultural Center at their next regular meeting March 26. Their workshop meeting is March 19.