BRADENTON — Elected officials of the city of Bradenton and Manatee County took major steps recently toward bringing a Pittsburgh performing arts school campus downtown.
The Bradenton City Council voted unanimously on Aug. 26 to draft a non-binding memorandum of understanding between the city and Point Park University that the school would locate a campus in downtown Bradenton, while Manatee County commissioners voted on Sept. 1 to sell a $1.21 million building to the city for $10 to house the campus.
The vacant, historic GTE building at 1009 Fourth Ave. W. must be used for educational, workforce development, community training opportunities or other redevelopment activities consistent with the downtown Community Redevelopment Plan or it reverts back to the county in five years, county Property Management Acquisition Manager Peter Morrow said.
County Commissioner Bob McCann commented on the loss the county has already suffered on the building. The county sold the building in 2022 to the Florida Cultural Group for $150,000; the group sold it back to the county in 2023 for $483,000 when the county had plans for a parking garage that were later abandoned, according to county records. The building must be extensively renovated for rehearsal and conservatory space to meet the school’s standards and current building codes, officials said.
The campus would host 250 students plus faculty and staff, producing an estimated $7 million annual economic impact to downtown, Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown told county commissioners.
Brown, Bradenton Vice Mayor Jayne Kocher and other local officials have toured the Pittsburgh campus, and Point Park officials have visited Bradenton.
“The real opportunity is downtown revitalization,” Brown said. “Our economic development downtown needs that vibrancy.”
The campus will attract local students, including some who could matriculate from a two-year degree program at nearby State College of Florida, Brown said.
The Point Park campus would offer four-year degrees in Bradenton. More than 70 majors are offered at its Pittsburgh location, including majors in schools of Dance and Theatre, Film and Animation and the Conservatory of Performing Arts.
With a reputation as one of the premiere fine arts colleges in the U.S., students will also come from all around the country, Bradenton City Administrator Rob Perry said.
Perry told council members last month that the university is seeking accreditation in Florida and asked the city for the memorandum of understanding as part of the application process. The city attorney’s office was instructed to draft a memo to express the city’s intent that Point Park locate the campus downtown.
Perry said that the school could help meet Florida’s high demand for arts graduates, pointing out the proximity of the Manatee Performing Arts Center in downtown Bradenton and the Orlando-based entertainment industry.
A Point Park campus in Bradenton could energize downtown like bringing a University of South Florida campus to downtown Tampa did for the Channel District, CRA Director Jeff Burton suggested, saying that talented young people who think new thoughts can improve the economy and invigorate a city. Additionally, a university campus in the central business district would bring “a whole new level to that urban design,” he said.
The campus would enhance the Avenue of the Arts concept on Third Avenue West downtown, home of the Manatee Performing Arts Center and the Herrig Center for the Arts, Brown said.
The city’s existing ties to Pittsburgh with Pirate City and LECOM Park, spring training field for the Pittsburgh Pirates, also make the campus a natural fit, he said, adding that FELD Entertainment across the Manatee River in Ellenton may also provide opportunities for the students.
Council member Marianne Barnebey called the campus “the pebble we’ve been trying to find to throw into that body of water that will reverberate throughout this region.”
Council members all agreed to continue discussions with Point Park.
“This is about the most visionary council I think Bradenton has ever had and it’s exciting to be here at this time because this does sound like an awesome opportunity to bring Bradenton into a true city,” council member Pam Coachman said.
Cindy Lane is a staff writer for the Tampa Bay Beacons. She can be reached at clane@tbnweekly.com.