YBOR CITY - Time is running out, but long-time residents and family are searching for a way to save the Ferlita Macaroni Factory from demolition.

They are re-examining a suggestion once made by the owner who now wants to tear down the roofless, 86-year-old building. Les Thompson, manager of 1607 22nd Street, told staff of the Historic Preservation Commission that he would donate the building to a charitable organization.

"He didn't have any success," said architect Ken Ferlita, whose grandparents started the business in 1912. "I'm looking into some options there."

A Barrio Latino Commission hearing is scheduled April 21 to consider Thompson's request to raze the factory. A code enforcement board hearing on the property is set for the next day.

Thompson could not be reached for comment.

Other options being explored include the possibility of spending property taxes collected within Ybor's community redevelopment area, but funds are limited.

The question over the fate of the macaroni factory has rekindled the debate on how to keep the city's oldest buildings from falling into disrepair and eventually being demolished.

"I do not understand how in 2009, after Gary school, we're back in the same position," said Fran Costantino, president of the East Ybor Historic and Civic Association. "I'm just disgusted."

Gary Adult High School, 3610 N. 10th Ave., was torn down about six months ago after a partial roof collapse. The school, built in 1913, served students in the once-agrarian community of Gary.

The macaroni factory on 22nd Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues was third in a line of Ferlita macaroni factories that once thrived in Ybor City. The Ferlitas bought the property from the Nuccio family and built the factory in 1924.

It operated on 22nd Street for more than 15 years, selling spaghetti and other pastas locally and expanding into Georgia and the Southeast. It was where the family worked and lived.

"That was his first home," Ferlita said of his father, the youngest of eight children. They sold the property in the mid-1930s, and Ferlita is not sure who owned it.

"It is - as far as I know it is - the only surviving macaroni factory of its type," Ferlita said. "It is unfortunate the owner has allowed it to fall into the state it currently is in. It has changed from a building to an 18-foot privacy wall."

Thompson bought the factory in 1985 for $85,000. Last year the 1607 22nd Street company became the owner, with Thompson as manager, records show.

The city's code enforcement inspectors last year issued a warning to secure the building.

When an aerial photo showed the roof partially collapsed, code enforcement issued another warning that led to the roof's removal.

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 259-7652.