As the old elevator doors slowly open, there is evidence of work being done on the sixth floor of the historic Florida Theatre.
Drywall, framing materials and taped-off sections show a rehabilitation effort.
And work is being done, said Florida Theatre President Numa Saisselin. It’s just taking longer than he and others have expected.
“There’s been a lot of stopping and starting,” he said.
Legislation passed in April 2014 set aside almost $102,000 to renovate the fourth and sixth floors. The idea was to bring them up to code and make them an attractive, affordable location for a nonprofit, educational or business entity.
It was a way the city could help both Downtown development and to restore a historic building, said bill sponsor, City Council member Bill Gulliford.
That’s still the goal, said Gulliford, but “it’s crazy that we have taken this long.”
According to a city timeline, the design notice to proceed was issued in September 2014. It was advertised in February. A contract was awarded in April.
The same timeline said there’s been “unforeseen conditions” recently discovered that might extend construction past January. Issues like wood under toilets, compromised plumbing and a contamination survey performed to look for asbestos and lead because of the age of the building.
Saisselin said, for instance, that framing work was being done on the sixth floor when a small amount of asbestos was found on a pipe. That means stop, call the city to decide the next course of action and then have someone else coming out to handle it.
The bathrooms are not up to code and also are causing issues. For instance, one recent slowdown has been the need to reroute a pipe that needs to go under the floor instead of running along the ceiling. That’s more time.
The city has been responsive, Saisselin said, but all the delays add up.
Despite the slowdowns, he said he isn’t frustrated.
“There’s forward motion,” said Saisselin. “As long as there is forward motion, we’re happy … but of course we’d prefer sooner rather than later.”
So would potential tenants. Saisselin said he’s fielded a “surprising” number of calls from people who have heard about the renovations and are seeking space.
Two technology companies, a newspaper, a playwright, a dance school and even some smaller startups needing just an office are several who have inquired.
Saisselin said he tells them about the legislation and the work that’s been done. But he can’t tell them when the space will be ready.
When it is ready, though, the rents from those two floors will help the rest of the building.
Per the legislation, money earned from those floors would be placed into a maintenance trust fund. Saisselin said those funds could go toward renovating other floors, attracting more tenants, earning more rent and eventually making the building self-sustaining.
Eventually, the biggest rehab of the seven-story building would be the top floor. It was once the roof and was turned into offices that Planning and Development — or in its current state “cubicle land” from a “Mad Men” type era, Saisselin jokes.
As for the work at hand, the January completion date likely will be extended.
Gulliford jokes that he’d like to see a Christmas miracle, but said realistically he’d like to see it completed no later than the end of March.
“It’s an incredible building with an incredible opportunity,” he said.
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