A group of Manatee County residents hope to breathe new life into their small town with some old Florida charm.

Thousands go to Parrish for the old railroad museum, but few stick around to do anything else. Now town leaders are trying to change that.

Norma Kennedy, who is the president of the Parrish Arts Council, said that from the 1900s to right around the Great Depression, Parrish was a vibrant community.

"Pool hall, post offices, boarding houses of course, the train station and the county barn, and it was a bustling community," she said.

Kennedy said that once the Great Depression hit, people had to move to find jobs. The area has never really grown or recovered since then.

Now Kennedy and the rest of the arts council are working to change that. They want to transform a vacant, run-down orange grove into a town center with an old Florida feel.

“It is the casualness," Kennedy said, describing the council's vision for the town center. "It is the friendliness. It is the front porches with the rockers on the porch. People passing by, saying, 'Hello, how are you?'”

They envision an ice cream parlor, café, restaurants, shopping. Housed in buildings with porches that look like you have just stepped back in time. A place that will attract tourists and give the locals a place to come together.

Ben Jordan, who is the executive director of the arts council, said they have a ways to go.

“It’s a dream, but it is something that we really, really want to make happen," he said.

The Parrish Arts Council needs to raise millions of dollars in order to turn their dream into a reality.

One of the ways they are planning on raising the funds is by holding concerts. The first one will be held at Fort Hamer Park in Parrish on May 3rd from 2-4 pm.