Old plaza building coming down next week

The final piece of the old Avenue of the Flowers plaza will be torn down next week.

Interim Planning, Zoning and Building Director Alaina Ray informed Town Manager Dave Bullock in an Oct. 1 email that Lakeland-based Publix Supermarkets Inc. submitted its demolition permit on Monday and plans to start work Monday, Oct. 7.

“They will be blocking off the drive on the west side of the building that is being demolished, but will not block the intersection near the outdoor Publix dining area or the parking on the east side of Publix,” Ray wrote in the email.

The demolition is a long time coming for the Longboat Key Town Commission, which wanted the building torn down after Easter, per the company's original plan.

Publix officials told Bullock the demolition “ran into some internal rescheduling.”

Per an agreement reached with the town, Publix has until the end of the year to tear down the building.
Officials, though, informed town staff it would be torn down well before the end of the year.

Once the rest of the old plaza is torn down, Publix has plans to put more parking spaces in its place before the Key’s seasonal population returns.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].