With final estimates in hand, the city of Gainesville may face a worst-case scenario for renovating the Thelma Boltin Center, the city’s longest-running Wild Spaces Public Places (WSPP) project.  

City Manager Cynthia Curry sent a memorandum on June 10 to update the Gainesville City Commission. In the memo, city staff said the Phase 1 repairs to the center, built in 1942, will cost the full $3 million currently allocated for the project. Gainesville and Alachua County both put forward $1.5 million for the project.  

While Phase 1 will secure the building structurally, the public will still not be able to access it.  

“Please note the current construction estimate depletes the Phase I structural stabilization funding allocation, only includes structural repairs and would not reopen the building for programming,” an underlined portion of the memo said.  

In March, Peter McNiece with Gainesville’s WSPP said the estimates were being finalized. He told Mainstreet the city would like to see the Phase 1 costs stay around $1 million, leaving the other $2 million for Phase 2 costs like HVAC, lighting, new flooring and code-required upgrades.  

The memo said that Phase 2 repairs would cost an additional $3 million, bringing a likely project total to more than $6 million.  

The city expects to get final pricing for Phase 2 by the end of 2025. Phase 1 planning and design should be finished around the same time, with construction starting in early 2026.  

Staff said the windows of the Thelma Boltin Center will be removed for preservation during the construction. Around 70% of the Phase 1 costs will be to stabilize the auditorium (including a new roof and roof trusses), work in the service wing will use 25% of the funds and site drainage improvements will use the remaining 5%.  

The Gainesville City Commission first approved a renovation and minor addition to the center in August 2019, but in December 2020, staff discovered a partial collapse of the auditorium roof, pausing work.  

An engineering firm identified significant structural issues in 2021, and then the project was paused when the former city manager left. In 2022, the City Commission voted on an option to demolish the building and build a new one, while also deciding to host workshops and return with plans.  

That work lasted until April 2023. Staff presented four different options for moving forward on the center, and the City Commission, with a slate of new commissioners, approved a $5.6 million partial restoration. However, after city staff started moving forward, the commission directed a pause on the previous motion five months later.  

Then in December 2023, commissioners passed a new motion for staff to use $1.5 million for the structural repairs with an eye toward reopening, ask Alachua County for a matching WSPP grant and pursue other historical preservation funds.  

Over the past year and a half, Wannemacher Jensen Architects and Scorpio, a local construction company, have worked on a remediation report and construction documents. Now, Phase 1 is ready, but at the full amount of money currently allocated.  

The City Commission will again need to decide on the Thelma Boltin Center and how the city moves forward with reopening it.