UPDATE 2/15 11:30 a.m. - Lee County will invest more than $375,000 for a structural and architectural assessment of the Lee Civic Center.
Tuesday, county commissioners approved a plan by contracting firm Weston and Sampson Engineers to evaluate the complex. The evaluation is due to take seven months to complete. From there the firm will make a formal recommendation whether to renovate or demolish the civic center.
Our original reporting continues below:
From concerts to the county fair, a place where so many of us in Southwest Florida have made memories, could be at the end of its road.
On Tuesday, Lee County leaders will begin the process of deciding if they are going to demolish or renovate the civic center.
“It’s still the old home country atmosphere in there," says Mike Peak, the President of the Lee County Fair Board of Directors.
But before Lee County Commissioners vote...the first step is to bring in engineers to take a close look at the property.
“We know the exterior metal of the building, what we call the skin of the building, is deteriorating. It’s a very old building of course. And of course they’re going to look at not only that but the interior structure and such," describes Peak.
He says the building isn't in the condition that it used to be, and that this assessment is long overdue.
“That building is over forty years old…it absolutely is needed, yes.”
If the commission decides to move ahead with the assessment, it will take seven months to complete.
Regardless of the outcome, Peak hopes the integrity of the center will be kept intact.
“It means a lot to a lot of people grew up and live in the area and have attended events out there," he says.
