The city of Bradenton and Manatee County want to turn the historic Peninsular Telephone Company Building (GTE) in Bradenton into Point Park University’s new performing arts school campus.
Bradenton City Council members unanimously voted on Aug. 26 to draft a nonbinding memorandum of understanding between the city and the Pittsburgh-based university.
County commissioners voted six days later to sell the $1.2 million GTE building to the city for just ten dollars, which the council accepted on Sept. 9.
Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown said the building was sold for a small price because the cost to renovate it will be around $3 million to $5 million.
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“Giving it to the city is a cost that, I think, the county and the residents are willing to do because we're able to revitalize it and bring it back,” Brown said.
The city’s Community Redevelopment plan says the vacant building, located at 1009 Fourth Avenue W., must be used for educational, workforce development, community training or other redevelopment activities.
But the Tampa Bay Times reports county officials have been trying to figure out what to do with the century-old building for years.
In 2023, the Florida Cultural Group sold it back to the county for $483,000 because Manatee officials had plans for a parking garage, which were later abandoned, Brown said.
He believes the school would be a great addition to the city’s robust performing arts presence downtown.
But if the deal falls through, the city has others who are interested in performing arts and are willing to rent out the building.
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“We're looking at the glass as half full,” Brown said. “We're going to keep going that way and [stay] positive for the things that we want to do.”
The performing arts campus could host 250 students, plus faculty and staff. It could produce $7 million in annual economic impact to downtown, Brown told county commissioners.
Local students could attend a two-year degree program through nearby State College of Florida, Brown said. Four-year degrees will be offered as well.
Point Park’s Pittsburgh campus includes 70 majors in schools of Dance and Theatre, Film and Animation and the Conservatory of Performing Arts.
The buildings on their Pittsburgh campus were slated to be torn down, but Point Park swooped in to bring the area back to life, which Brown is hopeful the university will do the same with the GTE building.
The university coming to Bradenton could strengthen the sister-city connection with Pittsburgh, since the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team holds its spring training games at LECOM Park, just a mile south of the GTE building. The Pirates’ Single-A minor league affiliate also plays at LECOM Park.
Brown said they will not have a definitive answer on the agreement until November at the latest.
