Published by former Mayor George Gardner March 25 2012
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George Gardner 57 Fullerwood Drive St. Augustine FL 32084 |
A civil rights gateway, center
A gateway at King Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, a timeline along the Lincolnville avenue, and a "New World Center" on St. Augustine Diocese property adjacent to St. Benedict Catholic Church is the ambitious plan to be presented to St. Augustine's City Commission Monday.
The commission will be asked to endorse the project to support fundraising. Presentation will be made by New World Center Foundation Chair Marsha Holmes and Jeremy Marquis, who designed the Andrew Young Crossing memorial. Included:
Ø At King Street and ML King Avenue, a "New Gateway anchored with a commercial development on the southwest corner and a new research library and academic facility on the southeast corner.
Ø Timeline of Triumph along ML King Avenue, "with large granite bands and inlaid bronze words highlighting important events in the African American experience in the New World of La Florida" from 1565 through 2011.
Ø The "New World Center for Civil Rights and Social Change" on the dioceses grounds, "a series of rooms and garden spaces to build upon the story told in the museum," which "will envelop the (St. Benedict) schoolhouse as a main exhibit." | |
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Deputy Joe retires
Joe Bowen, a 48-year veteran in law enforcement, popularly known here for his
"Cuddly Care Program," retired last week.
Tours with St. Augustine Police and Sheriff's Office were marked with distribution of more than 44,000 stuffed animals, bringing cheer to the community's sick and disabled youngsters and adults.
When not on "Tender Care Patrol," the congenial lawman was offering advice to seniors in newspaper columns and at River House.
"Joe is the true community police officer," said Sheriff David Shoar, who brought Joe out of a first retirement while St. Augustine police chief.
"He was trained to serve and protect, and his service has been truly outstanding." |
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Mandatory sewer hookups sought
An ordinance mandating connection to city water and sewer lines as they become available will be considered Monday by St. Augustine's City Commission.
"As the city and county move forward to developing a Facilities Plan for sewer expansion in the West Augustine Community Redevelopment Area (CRA), modification to the water and sewer ordinance becomes necessary to ensure the viability of future expansion through mandatory connection to the sewer system," Public Works Director Martha Graham will tell commissioners.
Mandating expensive connections - and who should enforce it in the largely low income area - has been a major stumbling block in development plans, the city's utility service area extending into the county outside city limits. | |
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Yard sales, vendors in
public hearings Monday
Ordinances to require permits to hold yard sales, and to expand a street performer ban the length of Hypolita Street and vendor ban along four streets crossing St. George go to public hearings and final action Monday before the City Commission.
The meeting begins at 5pm in the Alcazar Room at City Hall, preceded by a workshop at 3:30 on citywide vending regulations. The yard sale ordinance, prompted by a Davis Shores resident's yard sale last December, has drawn strong public criticism, summed up by Commissioner Bill Leary who said, "It's onerous to have to register with the city to do something (residents) consider a part of life." But commissioners decided to move it to a hearing Monday "to hear from the public."
Concerns with people lounging along Hypolita with large dogs prompted a proposed ban the full length of the street from the current 50-foot mark off St. George. The companion ordinance would extend a ban on vending the length of Cuna, Hypolita, and Treasury streets and Fort Alley. | |
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Keel-laying opens 16th century
shipbuilding program here |
The 37-foot main rib of a 16th century chalupa was surrounded by members of the St. Augustine Maritime Heritage Foundation and invitees Thursday at the Fountain of Youth Park as Project Manager Alexander Cameron raise a "golden mallet" to formally commence an ambitious shipbuilding program to be capped with construction of a 65-foot caravel tall ship.
The ceremony was part of an event hosted by the park's Fraser family, which also dedicated the park's new 600-foot dock and observation platforms. With the city's closing the Colonial Spanish Quarter, and Fountain of Youth to the north and Lighthouse to the south have joined the Castillo to become the community's premier historic venues.
Foundation President Maury Keiser and Vice President Roy Jaeger assured their audience that the shipbuilding is but one part of its mission to develop greater understanding and use of the city's waterways and educate the public on the nation's first port area.
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Helping hands continue efforts |
Homes on Bridge and Oneida streets were beneficiaries this weekend of a new program of Habitat for Humanity, in partnership with the St. Johns Housing Partnership, to provide helping hands to senior residents.
On Bridge Street it was tearing down a rickety carport and landscaping the home of Cora Tyson, whose home is on the civil rights Freedom Trail as a location where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stayed during the civil rights movement here.
Over on Oneida Street, the Browns' home was getting a fresh coat of paint.
The program draws properties recommended by area pastors and the city's Planning and Building Department, focused on seniors and handicapped.
Lincolnville Trash Bash
"Explore the hidden beauty of Lincolnville's streets while making them shine," Lift Up Lincolnville Revitalization Corp. offers. A cleanup day is scheduled for Saturday, March 31, from 9 to noon, starting at the Galimore Center at 9. |
Big challenge for tots museum |
The Children's Museum of St. Johns hasn't shied away from challenges, starting with a vision, testing the city on potential sites, carrying on with "virtual" and real kids' day events and now, with a lease/purchase agreement with the Dow Museum of Historic Homes, campaigning for a $1.5 million purchase price - in two months!
Board of Directors President Ben Platt says, "I know you'll agree that this collection of nine historic homes, nestled among fountains and courtyards, will provide unparalleled opportunities to provide real experiences for kids to learn about history, architecture, horticulture, and a variety of other interdisciplinary subjects all naturally occurring on the site.
"We've been conducting due diligence on the site, compiling renovation budgets, parking and traffic flow patterns, and an annual operating budget that will sustain the Children's Museum successfully for generations to come," Platt says.
They've also been meeting with potential donors. To help, contact Acting Executive Director Susan Connor 904.540.4001 susanwconnor@comcast.net. Visit http://www.explorecmsj.org/ |
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History's Highlight |
St. Augustine's earliest cemetery
3 years, 5 months, 15 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary
The Tolomato Cemetery is open the third Saturday each month from 11am to 3pm for self- and docent-guided tours.
The wooden headstones and markers are gone now, lost to the elements of time. Some names on surviving vaults and box tombs of stone or brick have disappeared.
Only church records can attest to the earliest burials in the late 1500s, two hundred years before the United States was established.
The size of its tree-canopied grounds belies this final resting place of more than 1,000 over three centuries. Burials are believed to have extended under today's Cordova Street, behind the chapel, and to the north.
In addition to Christian Indians, burials are documented of Africans, Italians, Greeks, Germans, Irish, Haitians, Cubans, Canadians, and other nations. All were professed Catholics in this staunch Spanish Catholic territory.
Tolomato Cemetery was originally the site of a Franciscan mission, established on the outskirts of the settlement for Guale Indians from the Tolomato mission in Georgia. Its chapel, built in the early 1700s, had a distinguishing feature in a four-story bell tower built of coquina.
In its final year before British occupation of Florida in 1764, the mission was occupied by a group of German Catholics, and it was sometimes referred to as the German or Dutch Church.
With the British occupation, remaining Indians and other mission residents left for Cuba with the Spanish population, and burials ceased. But in 1777 Catholic Menorcans, fleeing Dr. Andrew Turnbull's failed indigo plantation at New Smyrna, were given permission to use the cemetery.
With reoccupation of Florida by the Spanish in 1783, the cemetery was once again used for Catholic burials. In 1884, burials within the city were prohibited for health reasons, and both Tolomato and Huguenot cemeteries - the latter for all faiths - were closed, though a few clandestine burials occurred in later years.
"For centuries, this cemetery has been an important part of St. Augustine's cultural heritage and story," a brochure of the Tolomato Cemetery Preservation Association (TCPA) notes. "Time has not been kind to the site and it has been closed to the public for many years.
"The TCPA is working to preserve the architectural features and landscape, expand historical interpretation and improve the markers, and reopen the cemetery to the public."
The cemetery is the property of the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine.
Excerpts from Tolomato Cemetery in St. Augustine Bedtime Stories. Click for further information on this fascinating historic series. |
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The St. Augustine Report is published weekly, with additional Reports previewing City Commission meetings as well as Special Reports. The Report is written and distributed by George Gardner, St. Augustine Mayor (2002-2006) and Commissioner (2006-2008) and a former newspaper reporter and editor. Contact the Report at gardner@aug.com |
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