On Tuesday, community members in Sarasota held a rally to save a nearly 100-year-old building that could be facing demolition. The Colson hotel is named after Sarasota’s first Black resident Lewis Colson. “This was the place that athletes and entertainers would check in to a hotel for an overnight stay or a stay for a couple of days when they could not check in to white hotels,” Vickie Oldham with Sarasota's African American Cultural Coalition said. Fast-forward nearly 100 years later and the building still stands, but it's boarded up. “You know it's not pretty inside, but it can be restored,” Oldham said. JDMAX Developments' managing partner Joseph Lovett disagrees. “Since 1926 to now, it probably has the same paint on it since then. You say you care for it, you say you want it, but that doesn't display that to me,” Lovett said. The owners presented a plan to the historic preservation board back in April. Citing extensive damage, they proposed demolishing the hotel, building townhomes on the site, and placing a historical marker out front. The request concerned many community members. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/community/community-members-plan-rally-save-colson-hotel-demolition/67-825ec306-a9cd-40ae-a73b-c6b1e85a1605