Charlotte County officials provided an update to commissioners Tuesday about several of their facilities heavily damaged, or destroyed, by Hurricane Ian.
Facilities Director Travis Perdue said the Mid-County Regional Library, located on Forrest Nelson Boulevard, is expected to re-open in late 2025. The 20+ year-old building had major roof damage, HVAC disruptions as well as flooding issues. Right now, Perdue said they are in a design phase and anticipate people being able to use the facility starting next September-October.
Commissioner Bill Truex said the library does not require a full demolition, thankfully, which would lengthen the time and augment the cost.
"It's taking longer than people want, but I think we'll have it done correctly at the end of the day. And it'll be another real jewel for our county," Commissioner Bill Truex said. "Most of this will be covered by FEMA. The things that we do above and beyond, we'll have to find funding source for that."
Another important facility wrecked by Ian was the Cultural Center. You may remember, the historic building abruptly closed in 2021 when the non-profit board of directors pulled out without much warning to the county. Officials were in the process of inventorying assets and deciding on a plan when Ian hit and wrecked the place beyond repair.
Commissioner Stephen R. Deutsch said they hope to be able to keep the library on site. However, the rest of the building is going to be demolished. While they are in the design phase, Deutsch wants to keep the original footprint of the facility as much as feasibly possible.
"What we're checking out now is because environmental conditions have changed from what they were in the sixties, we couldn't go right in now and build that footprint. But we may be able to maintain or keep most of it," he said, "and it's important that we touch all the bases and do it right."
The Cultural Center previously hosted numerous activities for the community, including dance classes, a cafeteria, a thrift store, fitness center and more.
"Basically to one degree or another, we offered something for everyone and hopefully that's what we'll do in the future," Deutsch said. "It was a focal point of what happened in the community. And people still walk to it and the neighborhood people go there. And it's it's important that we get it done right, but that we do it as soon as possible to do it right."
Perdue told commissioners over 400 county buildings were damaged by Ian.
"It is a testament to our, our resiliency that we didn't see as much damage as we could have seen. It's a lot of damage," Perdue said. "Only a handful were a total loss or require extensive recovery."
If you break down the county into three sections, Perdue said one section's facilities are roughly 50% repaired. The other two sections sit around 30% fixed.