Bradenton officials appear ready to demolish old Manatee Players building in downtown

BRADENTON -- The city of Bradenton will issue bid notifications soon to determine demolition costs for the old Manatee Players building at 102 Old Main St., across from city hall.

The city first began debating the fate of the old building last summer when Manatee Players moved into their new facility at 502 Third Ave. W. in March 2014.

Demolition has been on the table ever since, but attempts were made to gauge private interest in the building. However, the building was built in the 1950s specifically as a theater with a sloping floor and odd shaped rooms.

The age of the building has also taken a toll and it has been out of code standards for some time. City clerk Carl Callahan said there has been some interest, but as soon as people saw the interior conditions, they realize, "It needs more work than anyone was willing to put into it."

Nonprofits also expressed interest in leasing the building for $1 a year, but Callahan said the city is "no longer in that business."

The 2/3 of an acre is valued at about $822,000, according to the Manatee County Property Appraiser website.

It's also a small part of a larger city vision to sell the city hall property, combine it with the Manatee Players property and redevelop it.

Ward 1 Councilman Gene Gallo has advocated turning the property green space, if nothing else, if only temporarily since private development is likely years away.

"It could be done at low cost just to put some sod down and a couple of benches," he said. "It would be something to make downtown nice and it would probably increase the number of people looking at that piece of property."

Ward 4 Councilman Bemis Smith was not present for Wednesday's meeting, but has previously cautioned against making it a temporary park, noting the city may have an issue with the public by taking back green space for development.

In February, the preliminary cost estimate to demolish the building was about $60,000. With rising construction costs, Callahan said no decision will be made until the council could review new cost estimates.

Few signs of its former use remain in the building. The seats are in storage at the Players' new theater and are used as stage props, and placards on the backs of seats that displayed the names of financial contributors have been removed.

"They all have been removed and are in my office," said Janene Amick, executive director of Manatee Players."Everything from a standpoint of the old theater has been removed and we hope the new facility, whatever it may be, really helps build the vibrancy of the downtown core."

Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter@urbanmark2014.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Bradenton officials appear ready to demolish old Manatee Players building in downtown ."