- April 10, 2025
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This decision would seem to be a snap.
A Manatee County tourism committee will forward to commissioners in April plans to build a six-story, 160,000-square-foot event center at Premier Sports North Campus that will be built entirely of interlocking steel-enforced, plastic bricks that are modeled after the popular Lego brand.
The Maxilego Construction Group of Amsterdam, Netherlands will use bricks that are three times the size of a common cinderblock or 48 inches long, 24 inches wide, and 24 inches high. Construction cost has been estimated at $160 million.
Manatee County's Frank Enstine, the committee chair, said the construction technique has been getting rave reviews in other parts of the world, such as the Netherlands, where six public buildings — including one that is 12 stories high — grace that capitol city and have been built over the past 10 years.
The Premier event center would be the first such building in the U.S. Construction dates have not been announced pending approval by the commission.
Enstine said the building, which will look more than a theater than a traditional block convention center, will have many benefits to Manatee County.
"First, and most important, is that Manatee County has built no public events facility in that part of the county, so this is long overdue," he said. "East County has been somewhat of a cultural desert because there is no place for people to gather. And every time we buy land to use for that purpose, houses are immediately built all around it so an amphitheater becomes impractical."
Enstine said the county's plans to build an amphitheater at Premier went awry because of the surrounding neighborhoods and the possible noise effect. He said the only logical direction to take was planning an indoor event center.
Previous negotiations for other facilities at Premier fell through, which eventually directed the committee to court Maxilego.
"We took our entire committee of 12 to Amsterdam for two weeks to inspect the Maxilego buildings there and we came back very impressed," Enstine said. "One thing you worry about is breathability, because plastic can create somewhat of an oven effect inside, and ... well ... this is Florida. But they have figured that out with advanced air conditioning super flow systems that are costly, but effective."
Another tourism committee member, H'ava Nuthershot, said the primary use of the event center will be to provide the area with an auditorium, or theatre, that can host 3,500 people for events. That would allow concert space for any arts group in the region along with providing the ability to attract name musical artists.
"Of course, we can't get the A-listers, but we certainly could get Tom Jones, Wayne Newton or even a Van Morrison," she said. "When it comes to blues or jazz artists, the sky is the limit."
Nuthershot said tilt construction will be used to put the building together — after a wall of bricks are snapped together — and that also will allow at least one side of the facility to easily transform into other sizes and shapes to accommodate certain functions. She said, agricultural-wise, that one side of the building would quickly open outward to host tractors and livestock, and a dirt floor can quickly be assembled for rodeos. Inside walls can snap out of place easily so that rooms can be reshaped to host large or small conferences.
The ground floor will have a snap-together basketball floor (six courts in all) for tournaments and can be reconfigured for tennis or pickleball tournaments.
Nuthershot said the very nature of the building, which is planned to be bright orange, yellow and purple (although the colors are negotiable depending on the commissioners' tastes), will attract children. So Lakewood Ranch can gain a reputation of the nation's playpen for events such as Lego, Hasbro or Build-a-Bear conventions.
At a time when Manatee County doesn't have the funds to pay for important road projects, the question might be "How is the county going to pay for the $160 million project?"
"We wanted to get local developers to pay for at least half of it, but we haven't figured out how to legally do that," said Bill Melater, of the county's finance department. "So, being that we are strapped for funds and only have a half billion dollars in reserves, we can borrow the money and pay off the loan over the years through property tax revenue."
Enstine said the plastic bricks are actually cheaper than using concrete, although cooling the building will cost more than traditional construction. He said the center is expected to generate enough funds to pay staffing and maintenance costs.
Since the building is expected to attract tourists from all over the country, commissioners say they will try to convince the state to share a part of the tab. A pay parking lot also could be added, although it would take the place of any planned softball or baseball fields.
The community has mixed reactions so far.
"I have seen some renderings and it is gawd awful," said Justin Thyme, who lives in Lorraine Lakes. "Our housing values are going to drop 30% as soon as they put up this eye sore.
"The only good thing is that tourists will be able to see this building from their airplane, or from space."
"I like everything about it," said Claire Asmud. "Well, except for the colors ... and the plastic ... and the shape."
