By Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The Police and Fire Pension Fund is taking the Laura Street Trio out of mothballs and hopefully putting the three historic buildings back on the City’s property tax rolls.
The buildings have sat unused for seven years. In that time, several developers have lined up to rehabilitate the Florida Life, Marble Bank and Bisbee buildings, but the Fund is the first to actually get shovels turning dirt.
Demolition work on the buildings is almost done. That means the Fund will soon take bids from developers to handle the build out phase of the renovation.
The bidding will start soon and work should proceed quickly. Fund Administrator John Keane told Mayor John Peyton the buildings should be ready for occupants by August.
The Fund recently learned that the buildings had been passed over by the Florida Legislature for state funding in 2006. But, thanks to $5 million in City assistance, work on the buildings should proceed as planned, said Keane.
The Fund’s Assistant Building Manager, Troy Scherbinski, took a Daily Record reporter last week on a tour of the three buildings.