St. Augustine Report

Published by former Mayor George Gardner May 9 2012

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George Gardner 57 Fullerwood Drive St. Augustine FL 32084

Progress

New look, ease for pedestrians

San Marco/West Castillo intersection redesign

Construction is under way on a new intersection design for San Marco Avenue and West Castillo Drive, which will replace the current concrete island and pole in the intersection and the web of overhead wires with two cantilevered signal light poles. Cantilever signal pole in place

The city was unsuccessful in convincing the Florida Department of Transportation to allow brick paver crosswalks, but the standard 8-foot wide crosswalk will be doubled to 16 feet crossing from the Visitor Center to the Castillo side.

The project is funded through a $1million federal A1A Safety Improvements program designed to improve pedestrian traffic flow to the Castillo, as well as $300,000 in Federal Transit Administration funds for site improvements around the Visitor Center parking facility.

Planning and Building Director Mark Knight anticipates the project will be completed in about two months.

Brick paver crossings can be found along Orange Street and, Knight says, "The crossings at Fort Alley and Cuna Street are still owned by the National Park Service and we were able to obtain an exemption for those two crossings."

Buckle Up America

As the Memorial Day weekend approaches, St. Augustine Police Chief Loran Lueders reminds us that "saving a life is a snap."

The Buckle Up America 2012 National Enforcement Mobilization will be May 21 - June 3, but the chief urges we "commit to wearing seat belts on every trip, ensuring that everyone who rides in our cars is buckled up and that all children 12 and younger ride in the back seat in properly installed restraints appropriate for their age and size."

Strengthening our defenses at redoubt

On the south side of the Visitor Center, the Santo Domingo Redoubt cannon ports have been dressed with planking - one including a cannon ramp - and 2 by 8 timbers are planned along the parapet walls to reduce site erosion.

The redoubt is a reconstruction of the original manned station along the city's Cubo Line, a palm log defense wall that stretched from the Castillo to the San Sebastian River. The original site is in today's Cordova/Orange streets intersection.

Another feature of the redoubt is a layer of coquina sand, laid in after skateboarders took advantage of the concrete surface and sloping sides when the redoubt was completed in 2004.

Room at St. Augustine's inns?

Elsie and Robert Carr should know. The Carrs opened arguably St. Augustine's first modern B&B back in 1980 - the Kenwood Inn.

Not to show favorites, they've combined lodging, writing, and photography skills to produce St. Augustine's first Comprehensive Guide to Lodgings of St. Augustine, with everything from hotels and motels to - of course - B&BS, listed by category and by location.

The guide is sponsored by the St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum.

Visit www.lodgingsofstaugustine.com.

Commentary

City has tools to protect history

Robert Hall has long been crusading to "get a handle on what will be allowed in our HP (Historic Preservation) districts."

Of Flagler College's proposed classroom complex at Cordova and Cuna streets around the corner from his house, he argued before the City Commission two weeks ago, "The ... project is going to be attractive but not historical as required for HP-3."

The Planned Unit Development (PUD) project goes back to the Historic Architectural Review Board for further review May 17.

Hall has pleaded for a 27-foot height limit in the HP districts. The proposed Flagler buildings would be 38 feet, including 3 feet of fill above the flood control level.

The City Commission and lower boards have rejected the 27-foot height limit, fearing it would take away property owners' rights. But the city has two means to control height as well as other elements.

The often criticized PUD that allows projects to ignore code restrictions also gives the city power to dictate all its elements - including building height.

And concern for property rights was tested when the City Commission in 2003 put entry corridor guidelines into code and created a review panel for any property owner objections.

City Planner David Birchim says there have since been hundreds of permits issued along the three corridors - San Marco Avenue, King Street, and Anastasia Blvd. Only six have gone to the Entry Corridor Review Committee for recommendation to the City Commission, and the commission approved four modified permits and denied two. None were appealed to circuit court.

It appears people are willing to conform to the standards of the community, if they know what those standards are.

And it appears the City Commission and lower boards can clarify those standards for our historic preservation districts - if they have the will.

Graphic: Streetscape along Cordova compares Flagler College project with neighboring properties

History's Highlight

Three centuries on a street corner

3 years, 4 months to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary

Archaeology students at Cuna and Spanish streets are studying the diversity of deposits typical of St. Augustine's colonial downtown district. The following is drawn from the exhibit panel at the site.

The Late First Spanish Period (1672-1763) finds remnants of a post-in-ground wattle-and-daub structure. One of the posts is charred, perhaps from English-led sieges in the early 18th century.

Above it is an oyster-shell foundation with embedded ceramics and iron nails, likely the "house of boards" of Manuel Jacinto listed in the index to the1763 Puente Map. Spanish Street neighborhood in 1898

In 1777, Pablo Sabate and his family arrive on the property as refugees from Andrew Turnbull's New Smyrna colony, where they live in a "house of palm," most likely a wood structure with a thatched roof.

Sabate, a Menorcan, earns his living as a fisherman and farmer. By 1801, he turns to other means of support - running a tavern. It is an L-shaped tabby building with two rooms, with a tabby floor and brick hearth recorded in one room.

The builders use broken bottles at the base of the oyster shell foundation - a unique way to support the massive shell foundation as well as dispose of trash. Numerous fragments from broken tumblers and goblets, coins, over 120 pipe fragments, iron cooking implements, and a marionette fragment suggest its function as a tavern.

This is not uncommon. The early Spanish use portions of their homes for commercial enterprises. During the Second Spanish Period (1784-1821), more than 25 taverns are documented in the colonial downtown district - the equivalent of a tavern on every block.

The Sabate family owns the property until the mid-1800s. A two-story frame vernacular dwelling is built in 1885 as a rental house for working-class families. City Directories from 1899-1930 list the occupations of the people living on the site: a porter, a tailor, a laborer, and a laundress.

Oscar "Dixie" Canova and his wife, Estelle, buy the house and property in 1931. Locals recount Dixie as a bootlegger during Prohibition; Dixie later opens a bar on nearby St. George Street.

The house on the property is demolished shortly after Dixie's death in 1969. The St. Augustine Foundation purchases the vacant lot in 1978, and calls on the city's Archaeology Division to test the lot prior to installing a formal garden. A poster prepared by City Archaeologist Carl Halbirt and Planning and Building Historic Preservation Planner Melissa Dezendorf results in plans for an exhibit panel on the site.

Photo: Spanish Street neighborhood in 1898, one of numerous graphics on the panel

Courtesy of St. Augustine Historical Society

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