Council OK's seeking historic status for Venice beach pavilion

VENICE — The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to apply to put the Venice Beach Pavilion on the local and national historic registers.

“I don’t know how that never happened before,” Council Member Helen Moore said.

Built in 1963, a decade later the structure’s wavy roof was the largest hyperbolic paraboloid in the world, Nancy DeForge told the Council during audience participation.

That portion of the structure is in bad shape, and is planned for replacement in the Fiscal Year 2027 Capital Improvement Program from 1-cent sales surtax funds. The city is working on plans to shore up the roof until then, Public Works Director Rick Simpson said.

Mayor Nick Pachota said he wanted to assure the public that listing the building on the registers wouldn’t mean the city can’t fix it up.

The replacement roof will have the same design and details but be built with modern materials intended to last 50 years, Assistant City Manager James Clinch said.

Before a structural analysis by an engineering firm in 2022, it was believed that only small-scale roof repairs would be needed, he said.

“That was not the case,” he said.

Getting the pavilion on the two registers could qualify it for grants, Pachota said.

Other business

Also on Tuesday, the Council:

Adopted an ordinance amending the comprehensive plan to incorporate the annual update of data on development activity within the mixed-use future land use categories in each plan neighborhood.Adopted an ordinance establishing development standards for single-family townhomes in residential multi-family zoning districts.Adopted a budget amendment ordinance.Accepted utilities and improvements installed by Keeneland LLC for the Cottages of Venice.Allocated $200,000 from the Stormwater Enterprise Fund in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget to hire a consultant for an initial Flamingo Ditch outfall evaluation.Adopted the Floodplain Management Plan Yearly Report and Local Mitigation Strategy Project List update.Heard a presentation on the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council.Approved the Venice Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year 2025.Directed staff to work with the Rev. James Mitchell on a plaque naming all 52 families of the Blackburn Quarters who were relocated to the Grove Terrace Housing Authority in the 1970s.Approved agenda items for the Citizen Advisory Board.Approved a mayor’s town hall meeting with charter officer participation.Swore in firefighter/paramedic Hunter Snyder, firefighter/paramedic Ryan Hellmer and firefighter/EMT Eric Putnal on their promotion to lieutenant, and Lt./EMT Tyler Eaton on his promotion to battalion chief.Proclaimed April 2024 as “Sexual Assault Awareness Month.”Proclaimed April 21-27, 2024, as “Crime Victims’ Rights Week.”Proclaimed April 10, 2024, as “Gopher Tortoise Day.”

The video and audio recordings of the meeting are at VeniceGov.com at the “Meetings” button.