30-day limit for cottage

A 30-day window is open for someone to step forward and offer to save or salvage the city-owned Monroe Cottage in Bradenton Beach.

The Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency — which consists of the city commission and mayor — voted Nov. 9 for the removal of the 60-year-old cottage, but also asked for alternatives for demolition within the next 30 days.

Additionally, the motion provided the go-ahead for LTA Engineers of Bradenton to make a detailed plan for a public parking lot that would include the cottage land.

Mayor Bob Bartelt said city officials have considered several options for the cottage, but none of them proved financially feasible.

To use the cottage at its present location as a welcome center or other public building, the city would need to invest at least $150,000 in improvements to comply with federal Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

Another option, moving the cottage to public property near the north boat ramp at Coquina Beach Bayside, would cost more than $100,000 for the relocation alone, the mayor said.

“It’s a tremendous effort,” he said.

Also, Bartelt said, before any move, the city still would have to fund structural improvements “so the thing doesn’t self-destruct under its own weight.”

So, Bartelt and commissioners invited someone or some entity to take the cottage, or at least take the wooden porch on the back of the building.

“We’re looking for a new owner,” Bartelt said. “I think we’d be happy right now if we could find a home for it…. We’re hoping we could find an alternative in 30 days.”
Several residents spoke at the meeting.

Bona Lee Wortman suggested the cottage could become the first of several artist residences/galleries in an Island version of the Bradenton Village of the Arts.

“Why couldn’t we encourage artists to come out and buy up these older buildings and make them into something?” she asked.

Rosemary and Paul Georges, who live to the south of the Monroe Cottage on Church Avenue, said they didn’t object to neighboring a parking lot provided the city erected a high fence and prohibited both overnight parking and the parking of sanitation trucks.

Paul Georges added that he is a proponent of preservation and perhaps the Florida Maritime Museum complex in Cortez could take the cottage. The Cortez-based Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage board discussed such a move at a recent meeting.

“That would be a possibility,” Bartelt said, noting that the cottage could travel across the bay by barge.

Resident Jo Ann Meilner asked whether the city had investigated the availability of grants for preservation or relocation.

However, public works director Tom Woodard said grants might not be easy to obtain since the cottage lacks a historic designation.

The city acquired the cottage, built circa 1950, several years ago for $300,000 for a future expansion of city operations. The cottage property is adjacent to the public works department and near the police department.

At some point, the mayor said, the city may need to build a city hall at the site. However, for now, the city wants to add public parking.

Until this summer, the city housed the project/program management department in the Monroe Cottage. That office no longer exists.