Punta Gorda’s City Hall is nearing its 100th anniversary, but the future of the historic 1927 building remains uncertain after years of deferred maintenance and mounting repair costs.
The building has been closed since before Hurricane Ian, further highlighting the need for critical updates. Earlier this year, the city council rejected a more than $19 million bid to repair the structure.
“It was going to be a lot more than $20 million,” City Councilman Greg Julian said. “That didn’t even include the mitigation of the mold, the asbestos, the lead paint, and some of the other things, and also didn’t include furnishing in the upper floors.”
Though the total cost is still unclear, council members say they are committed to restoring the nearly century-old building.
“Across the board, maintenance was lacking throughout the city,” Julian said. “The previous council didn’t value maintenance as much as they should have.”
City staff have now been asked to price out three top priorities: mold remediation, ADA compliance, and roof repairs.
“When we’re looking at costs, we have to look at maintenance for the future,” one council member said during Wednesday’s meeting. “None of this matters if we’re back in the same saddle in 10 years.”
Some residents say progress has been slow.
“Not a lot of action so far, at least in my opinion,” Punta Gorda resident Joe Comeaux said. “There’s some things that have been done, and a lot of people feel better about it. But just because it’s been there — has anything actually happened?”
Council members said the plan is to use the restored building for city staff, including the city clerk and the finance department. The upper floors may be used for storage, which they say would be better protected during future storms.
“We generally agree that it’s going to be for city staff,” Julian said. “Probably the upper floors will be storage, and they’re better protected from any of the hurricane effects.”
The council hopes to bring all city operations back to one central campus. The planning and design phase is expected to begin next.
City staff are set to review how much repairs will cost — and bring that back to council soon.
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