CONVENTION CENTERS:
From Destruction To Construction, A New Facility Is Born A recovery success story in the aftermath of a hurricane | By By Jim Finch, CVE
August 13, 2004 will long go down as one of the worst times for
Southwest Florida. That is when Hurricane Charley came to town. Initially, the storm was expected to hit about 100 miles north in the Tampa Bay area; instead it made an easterly turn coming up Char- lotte Harbor and then moving across the state over Orlando before exiting back into the Atlantic south of Jacksonville. Charley had wind speeds well over 140 mph when it made landfall, making it a Category 4 storm when it hit the mainland of Florida. It was a com- pact and fast-moving storm, compared to other larger storms which focused its destruction along a narrower swath of land. Charlotte County had a population
of 150,000 in 2004. The City of Punta Gorda, the only incorporated City in the County, had a population of 15,000. Demographically, the county is one of the oldest in the country with a median age well over 50 years of age. The City of Punta Gorda sits on the southern edge of Charlotte Harbor, the second largest bay in the state of Florida. In Punta Gorda, the Charlotte Coun- ty Memorial Auditorium had been open since the late 1960’s. Orig- inally, it had been operated much like a small performing arts venue with a calendar of shows, subscription plans, and an active board. Over time, newer venues to the north in Sarasota and to the south in Fort Myers attracted much more of the touring acts with their larger
48 Facility Manager Magazine
populations and demographics. Eventually the operating of the Auditorium was taken over by the Charlotte County Parks & Recreation Department. It stayed ac- tive with regular scheduled consumer events like craft shows, home shows, and car sales. It was still the largest venue in the County and hosted the local proms, banquets, and other special events. With its 35-year history, preliminary plans had already been discussed about its replacement in the near future. When Hurricane Charley came through, it devastated the facili- ty, depositing roof top air conditioning units hundreds of feet away into Char- lotte Harbor and severely damaging the building structure. After the storm had passed and the clean-up began, the real story of our community’s re- naissance began. After the storm, a group of residents
created a citizen’s action organization, Team Punta Gorda, that worked with the City and County government to help develop and implement a master plan on how the City of Punta Gorda
would be rebuilt. Over the years, several other communities that have - tion to see if they could bring ideas back to their own communities. From the start, the local citizens wanted a new venue to be built to replace the Auditorium. They knew that they wanted it to host
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