The Gainesville City Commission voted 6-1 to demolish the Thelma Boltin Center after years of struggling with how to move forward with the building that dates to World War II.
High construction costs to stabilize the building forced another reckoning before the City Commission, which already allocated $3 million for the project. Mainstreet reported in June that the issue would need revisiting because of updated budgets that represented a “worst case” scenario.
The motion passed at Thursday’s meeting and directs staff to hold community engagement to reimagine the site as a trailhead for the Sweetwater Trail Loop, connecting the Matheson History Museum with Depot Park and Tom Petty Park. The trailhead could include signage that gives the history of Thelma Boltin and remembers the soldiers that the building served.
Mayor Harvey Ward said the City Commission’s actions put it in the dilemma that led to demolition.
“Our going back and forth put us in a position where things are very, very different,” Ward said before the topic was heard. “At this point, we are in as much of a math question as we are in a how-much-do-people-love-the-building question,” Ward said.
Ward asked if the property is worth being the most expensive Wild Spaces, Public Places (WSPP) project on the docket. He said the city needs more money for the NE 8th Avenue and Waldo Road project.
Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut agreed. She said she wished the commission had stuck with its $5.6 million plan instead of changing course and going with a $3 million stabilization plan, half of which came from Alachua County.
“At this point, I just can’t see spending the money to restore it,” Chestnut said. “What are we restoring is the problem. What are we restoring at this point?”
Public commenters urged the commissioners to postpone a vote and to keep the historic building. Residents highlighted the building’s historic nature and contribution to the area’s historic district.
Robert Mounts also pointed to the city’s flipflopping, saying the city had forced its own hand through demolition by neglect. He said the city should stabilize the building and then try to sell it.
Gainesville staff said the city can’t sell the center before it meets the building code, still requiring millions in repairs before selling it.
A community organization, Friends of the Thelma Boltin Center, formed to support the city’s work and future programs at the restored building. Melanie Barr helped form the group and highlighted the historic nature—a point public commenters felt city staff had diluted.
Barr said the building is a contributing structure to the historic Duckpond district. She said these contributing structures typically aren’t individually listed to historic registers, but she said the center could likely be listed separately.
“We could go out of the way and see if it could be individually listed, and it likely could be, but that isn’t necessary because it is considered contributing,” Barr said.
City staff said the building wasn’t built to last and fails to meet code. Plus, the building is mostly within the 100-year-flood zone.
Gainesville staff presented six different options—three included higher price tags for various levels of renovations to the current building while three included a demolition. The demolition options included constructing a new building, leaving the space vacant for floodplain restoration and partial floodplain restoration with potential housing on the site.
Commissioners said they’ve supported historic projects, from the Florida Theatre to the Hippodrome Theatre, South Main Station to the Thomas Center and Boulware Spring. But the Thelma Boltin Center now seems gone, Chestnut and other commissioners said.
Commissioner Ed Book said there’s no perfect solution, but a $7 million project is a bad situation.
“Unfortunately, there are times where you can’t support everything at all times,” Book said.
The City Commission is also facing maintenance needs at other facilities like City Hall and the Old Library Building, Ward said. He said the city has no current funding for these projects.
Timeline on Thelma Boltin Center
- December 2023: Gainesville switches Boltin Center plan amid activist delays
- September 2023: GNV delays Boltin Center vote for design plans
- August 2023: GNV Boltin Center added to preservation watchlist
- April 2022: Planned renovation of Boltin Center crumbles
