Historic home to be torn down for a RaceTrac

Beth Salem, the historic Reasoner family home at U.S. 301 and State Road 70 in Oneco, is to be demolished for the site of a RaceTrac gas station. The Reasoner family said they tried unsuccessfully to find a buyer for the house, which has become too costly for them to maintain.

MANATEE COUNTY - Beth Salem, the historic Reasoner family home at State Road 70 and U.S. 301, is to be demolished for a RaceTrac gas station.

Ward Reasoner, a descendant of the Reasoner brothers who founded Royal Palm Nurseries in Oneco more than a century ago, told the Manatee County Commission on Thursday that the 1896 structure became too costly to maintain.

It's just not economically feasible, Reasoner said.

The home is one of the 10 oldest structures in Manatee County and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The family offered the two-story home for $95,000 to anyone interested in relocating it.

No one offered to do it, Reasoner said.

The house is so large even to move it next door will be a substantial amount of money, said Cathy Slusser, historic resources director for the Clerk of the Circuit Court's Office. ...It makes me very sad.

It's starting to deteriorate, Mark Barnebey, Reasoner's attorney, said.

The Reasoners spent about $300,000 a decade ago to restore the house, which was once located in a isolated, rural area but now borders a Sam's Club and is across a six-lane highway from a Walmart.

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Historic home to be torn down for a RaceTrac