FORT MYERS, Fla — This 100-year-old building in downtown Fort Myers has been vacant for two decades.
As your Fort Myers community correspondent, I saw the deserted building in the middle of this growing downtown, and I had to find out the city's plan for it.
Councilman Liston Bochette took us inside the Hall of 50 States.
"I know my mother danced here when she was a little girl, and I was in here when it was the chamber of commerce and played shuffleboard outside," says Bochette.
The community now looks to Bochette to provide the best opportunities for downtown Fort Myers as it grows.
The city owns the building and the land.
"We just attended the National Historical Preservation Convention last week, and it's in sight, says Bochette. "It's exciting to see cities that preserve their elements while they're still growing forward, too."
People like the River District Alliance founder Lisa Sbuttonii say this building needs to be interactive for the community.
"The perfect fit would be to use this historic structure and highlight it as something people could use and visit", says Sbuttoni.
What next?
On Friday, Brochette tells me a selection committee will review four proposals for this building.
The selection committee is meeting with one of the interested parties on Friday at 9:30 in council chambers.
The meeting is public if you want to join.
"We're in a preliminary stage," says Bochette. The property has not been sold, so we're in the evaluation phase."
Some bidders include a virtual reality center, an apartment/condo complex, and a recording studio.
Bochette explained how the building itself could even be moved.
"We can exchange this footprint for another footprint, should we want to, but that depends on the frailness of the building and whether it could be moved," says Bochette. It's strong enough to stay where it is. I'm not so sure until we get engineering here."
Sbuttoni says this building is prime real estate and should be used properly.
She hopes that it is sold to someone who is going to preserve the building.
