Local Government Florida Maritime Museum Gets Economic Boost

BRADENTON — At Monday's Tourist Development Council Meeting, members approved matching funds to preserve, improve and expand the Florida Maritime Museum in the historic fishing village of Cortez.

Housed in the 1912 three-room schoolhouse, the FMM preserves and shares Florida's maritime heritage. The historic four-acre site has three buildings full with knowledge and artifacts that share the historic skills going back more than 100 years.

To better preserve the historical heritage, FMM partners with Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court R.B."Chips" Shore, Friends of the Florida Maritime Museum and the Manatee County Commission. 

At Monday's TDC meeting, Shore and staff presented a proposal for partial funding for campus improvements and programming capacity. 

On the list is renovating the historic Burton Store, with climate control storage, a library and expanded space to host lectures, classes and exhibits.

Another addition that will come from the renovation is a pavilion to host events and the purchasing of a electric passenger cart that will facilitate a guided tour through the Cortez Fishing Village.

All of the TDC members took turns talking about the important role historical heritage plays in the county's future. 

Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston eagerly made a motion to approve the $186,000 (half the cost of the proposed project), before Shore could even say much. The request was then approved, unanimously.