Cultural Center 'not fixable'

“It’s not fixable,” he said.

Commissioner Joe Tiseo agreed.

“There’s no patchwork here," Tiseo said. "This is a complete rebuild. ...This is going to be a long haul, and we’re going to do it."

One photo showed water up to the back of seats in the theater, and another showed the near-total destruction of the Learning Center where classes were held.

While no action was taken regarding the building’s fate, the prospect of what the Cultural Center could become was the subject of a presentation by Charlotte Community Foundation Executive Director Ashley Maher.

When the center closed in 2021, the county tasked CCF with hiring a consultant to determine how the county could restore and better use it.

Maher and Amy Huddleston, director of strategic partnerships for the foundation, visited sites in communities with multi-generational appeal.

Maher said the Cultural Center should be “for anyone in Charlotte County.”

Recommendations include:

• Build it vertically to maximize space and create a “green” surrounding landscape. The main building would contain a library, state-of-the-art theater, small business incubator space and business accelerator program.

• The redesign would include a state-of-the art theater featuring more than 500 seats for live performances, plays, concerts and conferences.

• An education area for school-to-work initiatives in the trades.

• It can double as a disaster recovery center and special-needs emergency shelter if needed.

• Partner with Charlotte Technical Center’s culinary program to implement student-led businesses in the community while offering lost-cost meals to seniors.

• Create a family-friendly venue for food and entertainment.

• Create a small-scale research park to attract specialists impacting the senior population such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and autoimmune diseases.

• Offer support groups for seniors and their families.

Huddleston said the commissioners, CCF representatives and consultant Robert Meeder will meet next week to further discuss plans for the Cultural Center.

Several members of the public stepped forward to tell how important the Cultural Center was to them.

Richard Patrick said visiting the center a decade ago convinced him and his wife to move here from Virginia.

“We found it to be a place that gives information and brings people together,” he said.

Joan Fisher called the Cultural Center “the beating heart of our community,” and said it had been supported by taxpayers’ dollars.

Dan Rodriguez said it offered a driving school, and after taking piano lessons there, he bought his own piano.

“The Cultural Center has been very good to us,” Millie Black said.

Lucy Garner said she took classes at the center.

“I studied and became a citizen,” she said.

More came forward and said they depended on the center for their socialization, thrift-shopping, cafeteria, holiday meals and more.

“Please bring back our Cultural Center and don’t tear it down,” pleaded Linda Kopp, who said she was one of 250 volunteers at the center.