PLACIDA — The future of the Historic Placida Bunkhouse is up for discussion at Tuesday’s Charlotte County Commissioners meeting.
Back in 1907, the Placida Bunkhouse stood in the Placida community near the Charlotte Harbor & Northern Railroad line, just before the rails crossed over the Gasparilla Sound trestle on their way to Boca Grande. It housed men who worked the rail line.
With plans to widen the roads in Placida and build a new bridge over Coral Creek, Charlotte County officials moved the bunkhouse a few hundred yards north up the Pioneer Trail biking and walking path in 2005.
One plan called for it to service visitors during their hikes.
But the building has sat empty for years, causing dilapidation to the old yellow pine planks. A couple of bees nests and a large iguana have made the bunkhouse their residency for the time being.
Its bones are good, though, according to C. Alan Anderson Architect’s report.
The good shape of the building is due to a 2012 Charlotte County stabilization project that may have saved the structure from extreme deterioration or collapse. Anderson’s notes found minimal exterior structural damage.