Published by the Department of Public Affairs, City of St. Augustine. Florida June 7 2011 |
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Constitution Monument proposed
to be National Historic Landmark
Paul Weaver, historic properties consultant and member of the city's Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) and Colonial St Augustine Foundation, is proposing nomination of the Constitution Monument as a National Historic Landmark, and offering to prepare its nomination papers as his contribution to the city's 450th anniversary.
The proposal goes before HARB June 16.
Weaver, president of Historic Property Associates, Inc., is "one of Florida's most knowledgeable practitioners in historic rehabilitation planning," according to the foundation website.
The foundation began a program to restore monuments in and around the Plaza de la Constitución several years ago, focusing first on the Constitution Monument. It was restored in 2008.
It's believed to be the only surviving original monument to the 1812 Spanish Constitution, and will be a focal point for the constitution bicentennial in 2012.
Current National Historic Landmarks here include the Cathedral, Fort Mose Site, Gonzalez-Alvarez House, Hotel Ponce de Leon, Llambias House, and St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District. | |
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City to honor Andrew Young
Former Ambassador Andrew Young, a Martin Luther King Jr. lieutenant during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, will reprise his walk to the Plaza de la Constitución Saturday, June 11, at 10 a.m. for ceremonies dedicating a memorial in his honor.
The memorial is embedded in the southwest Plaza walkway, near where Young was assaulted in June, 1964, while supporting non-violent demonstrations here.
The City Commission approved up to $10,000 in funding for the project, which includes Young's footsteps in bronze and quotes from the civil rights era.
Photo: Young with
Dr. King ca. 1967 |
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Biassou statue proposed
on visitor center grounds | | A life-size statue of Jorge (Georges) Biassou, leader of the Haitian Revolution and highest ranking Spanish officer here in the late 1700s, is being proposed to be sited on the north green of the Visitor Information Center.
The plan will be presented to the City Commission June 13 and reviewed by the city's Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) June 16.
The flamboyant general, noted for his gold-trimmed clothes, silver saber, and ivory dagger, commanded a small black militia at Fort Matanzas, an assignment that didn't sit well with him after commanding an army of thousands.
Biassou died here in 1801 and was accorded a Catholic Mass, a funeral procession to Tolomato Cemetery with drummers, and a black honor guard. The location of his grave has been lost, but a Haitian delegation hopes to establish a marker at the cemetery recognizing his career. |
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Conservationists are busy | 
A team from Atlanta's International Fine Art Conservation Studios is swarming on Flagler College's ceilings, combating the effects of time with plasterwork and repainting the ornate designs in the Flagler Room and Ponce de Leon Dining Hall.
College officials say this is the first major renovation in 23 years. Check out the photos.
The popular Flagler's Legacy Historical Tours are continuing during this process.
Students from Aviles, Spain, worked on the dining room ceiling for two summers. |
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City, firefighters forego negotiations | |
Current contract in best interest of citizens
The City and Professional Firefighters of St. Augustine, Local 2282, have agreed to continue working under the current contract for fiscal year 2011-12, foregoing possible pay raises and other adjustments.
"The contract could have been fully negotiated by either side at this time," city officials say, "but both parties recognize and agree that the financial position of the City has not substantially improved and that the citizens of the city would receive the greatest benefit of a status quo agreement by not investing time, energy and financial resources in the negotiations process this year."
Our police helping Alabama responders
The St. Augustine Police Benevolent Organization is accepting donations for the Northern Alabama Chiefs Group LOVE fund, to help emergency responders in the recovery from tornado and flood damage of recent storms.
The fund will provide assistance to emergency responders in the area with food, clothes and living expenses. Police noted one example in the town of Hackleburg, where 31 out of 32 businesses were devastated, leaving first responders without an income.
Make checks payable to the St. Augustine Police Benevolent Organization (SAPBO) and bring to the St. Augustine Police Department, 151 King Street between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays, or mail to the department at PO Box 1950, St. Augustine FL., 32085. Sgt. Anthony Cuthbert 904-209-3462 is in charge. |
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49 miles of bicycle lanes in study | |
A bicycle route network in St. Johns County, covering 49.8 miles of roadway with 108 bicycle parking locations for 607 bicycles, was presented in draft form recently to a roomful of bicycle enthusiasts in the Alcazar Room at City Hall.
Consultants with SPRINKLE , contracted by the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization at the request of City Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline, said, "The primary routes stay off of major arterials as much as possible, except when those are the sole direct routes."
The consultant promised, "The final plan will also include more information on recommended future additions to bike parking in response to demand, options for temporary bike parking in conjunction with special events, and detailed recommendations for improvement to these roadways."
Next step will be prioritizing recommendations. |
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San Marco's vanishing historic landscape | |
The latest reincarnation of 120 San Marco Avenue at the corner of Pine Street is to be a 70-seat restaurant specifically oriented for the deaf, according to papers filed with the Planning and Building Department.
The property, at one time a piano bar, then an interior design shop, was originally a gas station, one of many auto service businesses on the former US 1. Other gas stations adapted to modern use are Borrillo's Pizza across the street, still maintaining its original appearance, and the former U-Haul station at Sebastian Avenue further north, little resembling its history.
Two recent auto-related closures are along the street are Firestone Tire at Locust Street and Richbourg's north of May Street, as San Marco continues its transformation from auto services (in the face of increasing traffic. . . ). |
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History's Highlight
Carnegie Restoration 'no little plan'
4 years, 3 months, 2 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary | |
Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood...Make big plans, aim high in hope and work. Daniel H. Burnham, US architect & city planner (1846 - 1912)
Following are excerpts from a 1937 report on the Carnegie Institution's proposed St. Augustine Restoration program.
The restoration program planned to gather "every available shred of evidence . . . to give a proper interpretation which will be of value to man today and to the succeeding generations."
While acknowledging conflicts, the report noted: 
The history of a people is not all tragedy and bloodshed. Their gaiety, their songs and their laughter are just as much a part of the picture as the sound of cannon and the desperate struggle against hunger and disease and human enemies.
The redevelopment of the customs and traditions and legends of the people will therefore take form in the staging of historic pantomimes, pageants and plays in the great amphitheatre to be constructed.
Fiestas and street festivals will occur; not annually, as does the colorful "Day in Old Spain" but perhaps once a month so that no matter at what time the visitor plans his trip to St. Augustine, he may arrange it so as to be present at one of these gala events where the spirit of other days is revived.
Long forgotten recipes for old Spanish dishes and drinks will be used again. Linen and lace making, once a home industry here, will be encouraged.
Old customs of singing the fromajardis, the Easter serenade, and other colorful customs such as masked balls, the posey dance, etc., will be resumed.
The historical museum might be called the microcosm of this comprehensive story and will be the first point of visit for the tourist. At the entrance there will be a model of the entire restored area. In sequence the visitor will pass through period rooms beginning with Timucuan and depicting the successive stages of history in St. Augustine.
For each period there will be dioramas of the town and region, as it then existed, as well as models of men and women showing their physical characteristics and their mode of dress. Displays of artifacts, explanatory charts, pictures and drawings will supplement the models and dioramas. In this manner the visitor will pass from century to century of history in a brief time, obtaining a comprehensive idea of the scope of the entire story and the relation of the various periods to one another.
He can then go out intelligently to visit the scenes of this great historical panorama. |
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The St. Augustine Report is published by the Department of Public Affairs of the City of St. Augustine each Tuesday and on Fridays previewing City Commission meetings. The Report is written and distributed by George Gardner, former St. Augustine Mayor (2002-2006) and Commissioner (2006-2008) and a longtime newspaper reporter and editor. Contact The Report at gardner@aug.com |
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