La Dolce Vita Pizzeria 17-year run in downtown Sanford’s Old City Hall will come to an end this weekend. Owner Renee Fincher announced on Facebook Thursday night the restaurant will open in its new home — the old federal building on Carthage Street a few blocks away — in two weeks.
Fincher announced her intentions to move back in May 2017, purchasing the building at 226 Carthage St. from the City of Sanford for $80,000. As part of the deal, she committed to investing at least $300,000 in building upgrades and providing more than a dozen new jobs, each of which will pay at least $10.75 an hour, by July of 2020.
The federal building was most recently home to offices for local government agencies including Lee County’s old Economic Development Corporation and Downtown Sanford, Inc. — organizations which vacated the building upon the completion of renovations at the Sanford Buggy Company. Completed in 1937, it was originally home to Sanford’s Post Office until the late 1960s. Later, it housed a variety of federal employees ranging from the draft board to agriculture agents and more. It was this function that earned the facility its moniker of “federal building,” as which it is still informally known today.
No plans have been publicly announced for the restaurant space in Old City Hall being vacated by La Dolce Vita. Vote below for what you would like to see downtown.
