
The demolition of the Thelma Boltin Center has started.
Despite a request from Alachua County for a 90-day pause, the city of Gainesville started the demolition on Tuesday, 12 days after the commission voted to end its $3 million renovation plans.
A John Deere backhoe sat in the middle of the building, now missing its roof and large parts of the walls. The demolition officially ends four years of back-and-forth decisions about how, or if, the city should move forward.
At a General Policy Meeting on Thursday, the City Commission addressed the center for the last time.
Commission Ed Book asked staff to clarify if Gainesville’s codes require a wait period, like what the county requested. He said residents had sent emails claiming the city is violating its own codes.
City Manager Cynthia Curry replied that the city isn’t bound by a 90-day delay.
“Unless there is an action by this commission that overturns what happened last Thursday, we are proceeding with all due diligence to demo Thelma Boltin,” Curry said.
“Within our own policies and laws, correct,” Mayor Harvey Ward asked.
“Correct,” Andrew Persons, chief operating officer, replied. “And again, just to reiterate, this is a dangerous building, so it is not subject to the 90-day delay.”
The city of Gainesville’s code enforcement declared the center a dangerous building back in August 2022, before the commission voted on a $5.3 million partial restoration plan in early 2023. But in September 2023, the commission paused its previous action and then decided on a $3 million plan to stabilize and open the building.
However, this summer, city staff said just stabilizing the building would cost the full $3 million, half provided by Alachua County. Now, a renovation would cost $7 million, staff said, causing the commissioners to reconsider and vote for demolition.
Several local residents protested the decision, including the group Friends of Thelma Boltin Center. They accused the city of demolition by neglect for allowing the building to become dangerous and failing to maintain it.
The city now plans to use the space as a trailhead for the Sweetwater Trail Loop and to install plaques about the building, its history and the veterans it served.
The Thelma Boltin Center was built in 1942 as a social venue for soldiers preparing to leave for World War II. After the war, the city bought the building for $12,500 and used it for programs, like Friday night dances.
Thelma Boltin managed the building through the war, and Gainesville kept her as director afterward. In 1956, she moved to White Springs, where she directed the Florida Folk Festival.
Gainesville bands played at the Friday dances. Stephen Stills, Don Felder and Bernie Leadon, now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, performed at the center and fellow rock legend Tom Petty attended dances there.