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Published by former Mayor George Gardner July 2 2014
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Luhrs site to be major marina
Children's museum finds home opposite Riberia Pointe
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Artist rendering of marina
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A major marina project is planned for the site of the former DESCO and Luhrs boat manufacturing site off U.S. 1.
The St. Augustine Shipyard Project will have 1,000 feet of a San Sebastian Riverfront with deep water access, and it will include the tag! Children's Museum of St. Augustine - across the waterway from Riberia Pointe, where Lincolnville residents rejected the museum's proposed location.
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Marina site above with Target store below
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Shipyard Project co-owner and developer Bob Million says he has approval for 85,000 square feet of boat storage and commercial space for Phase One, which he hopes to open in the fall.
Phase Two he calls "the wish part," pending city and county permits, for restaurants, shops, a hotel, wet boat storage areas, and a promenade that could be used for art festivals and farmers markets.
"It's a unique site," says Million. "You wouldn't be able to duplicate this anywhere in the area."
Kim MacEwan, executive director of the Children's Museum, says the location has amenities to complement the museum. It's in Phase Two, but MacEwan hopes to have it open next year.
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July 2 1964
July 2 2014
Ceremonies at 3:30 pm today at the St. Augustine Foot Soldiers Monument in the Plaza de la Constitución will mark the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson July 2, 1964.
Veterans of St. Augustine's civil rights movement, Barbara Vickers and Pastor Thomas DeSue, will be among dignitaries at the ceremony, which includes the laying of a wreath donated by the Poinsettia Circle of the Garden Club of St. Augustine.
A community group worked seven years to realize the $70,000 monument, which represents the diverse support during St. Augustine's civil rights struggle.
the ceremony will be preceded by the 8th Annual ACCORD Freedom Trail Luncheon at Flagler College and opening of ACCORD Civil Rights Museum in the former dental office of civil rights leader Dr. Robert B. Hayling on Bridge Street at 3 pm..
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Mini golf course
is multi-historic
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The Mini Golf Course on the bayfront has more than one element of distinctive history.
 In addition to being Florida's oldest extant miniature golf course and distinguished as an example of post-war geometric type courses, it was also the first public facility in St. Augustine to be desegregated. Paul Weaver of Historic Property Associates has documented the information as part of a process to get the facility listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The municipal course was opened June, 25 1949. Fourteen years later, June 1963, the City Commission, responding to local black leaders as the national civil rights movement grew, desegregated the facility. The National Register application goes to the city's Historic Architectural Review Board July 17, the first step in the approval process through local, state and federal agencies.
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Significance of the course
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Weaver
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"With the exception of the replacement of green and fairway surfaces, all features are original and the course retains a high level of integrity," Weaver writes.
"Miniature golf design was divided into two schools. One of the schools became widely known as goofy golf, crazy golf, and wacky golf. Massive monuments were the signature features for these types of courses.
The second school considered the course to be used as a competitive sport rather than a strictly recreational activity. Course design following this concept was simpler, more regular and geometric and more a game of skill than chance.
"The design of the St. Augustine Mini Golf Course is significant. It is an early example of a standardized, geometric course designed for skillful competitive play which became popular following World War II.
"The St. Augustine Course is also significant for its coquina concrete construction material ... an important part of its significance and a reason for its integrity and longevity."
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The First Militia Chapter of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) is aptly named; the first citizen militia in today's America was formed by Spanish Admiral and St. Augustine Founder Pedro Menendez in September 1565 to protect the settlement while his forces marched to attack the French Fort Caroline 40 miles north. Today's First Militia Chapter was established in November 1994 and represents nearly two dozen northeast Florida counties. Its focus is support of AUSA initiatives, representing Army service members, retirees and their families, and community support. Visit the website.
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July 4: Fireworks Over the Matanzas
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St. Augustine is gearing up for its traditional Fourth of July - fireworks and a sea of spectators.
At 6 pm The All Star Orchestra fills the Gazebo in the Plaza de la Constitución to present popular and patriotic music.
At 9:30 Fireworks Over the Matanzas is presented, as it has for more than two decades, by Fireworks by Santore the Palm Coast company that produces more than 250 shows annually including Daytona International Speedway, Sea World Orlando and Walt Disney World.
Visit www.FireworksOverTheMantanzas.com for details.
No 'On-the-Street-Hosts' yet
Half a year after city commissioners approved a Visitor Center contract with the county for $160,000 in bed tax funds, a provision for period-dressed "On-the-Street-Hosts" in St. Augustine's historic district is still in limbo.
Assistant City Manager Tom Burchfield said in January, "We are attempting to develop some sort of street presence that will not violate the city code" which bans performances, distributing literature and such activities along St. George Street.
Burchfield updated this week, "On the list with all the other things we have to get done. When the City Attorney has time I will need to discuss the issue with him to ensure we can do something without violating our ordinance."
Period-dressed hosts to provide visitor assistance would bring back a former "townsfolk" program, discontinued for lack of funding.
He's steeped in history
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Eubanks describes exhibit to St. Augustine Record reporter Kimeko McCoy
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Gerald Eubanks' Performing Arts Center, adjacent to JC Penney in the Ponce de Leon Mall, was recently filled with black history, from Gerald's personal life growing up through segregation, the civil rights movement and into integration, to major events in the struggle for equality.
Dozens of photos and documents display Gerald's extensive collection, which features civil rights markers his Civil Rights Memorial Projects Committee established during the 40th anniversary of the 1964 civil rights movement here.
Asked how long the display would be up he replied, "I have to take it down for a tap dance class, but I can reassemble it when anyone asks."
He is looking for a permanent home for the collection.
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History's highlight
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Mini golf first desegregation test
434 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary
The signing of the Civil rights Act of 1964 ended segregation, but a year earlier, pressure to desegregate public places went before St. Augustine's City Commission.
From the application to place the St. Augustine Miniature Golf Course on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Attorneys Andreu and Shaw
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The NAACP petition presented on June 28th addressed six areas of concern. Area 2 concerned desegregation of all city owned facilities.
City Attorney Robert Andreu, later a county judge, addressed the petition stating the City had no ordinance restricting or prohibiting the use of municipal facilities based on race. Attorney Leander J. Shaw, Jr., later a Florida Supreme Court justice, representing the NAACP stated that a black citizen had been told that he could not use the mini golf course.
Attorney Andreu concurred that the request had been refused and that access to the Public Library had also been denied. Upon hearing these reports Andreu contacted the administrators of both facilities and received letters which he read into the record.
The first letter was from E. J. Cosgrove, Treasurer of the Free Public Library Association, enclosing a letter from himself to the Librarian, Mrs. Fletcher. Mrs. Fletcher's letter stated that the library's facilities were open to anyone regardless of race or color.
Andreu then read into the record a letter from Earl Masters, Chairman of the Community Playground Association. Masters stated that there were no restrictions based on race for the facilities operated by the Council on Bay Street (now Avenida Menendez).
Attorney Shaw asked if negroes could be denied the use of the golf course. Attorney Andreu stated that they could not be prevented from playing based on race. The only restriction, he said, would be if they were not properly dressed, intoxicated or for some other legitimate reason not based on race.
Andreu clarified that the City of St. Augustine did not own the library but contributed funds to it, but did own the golf course which was managed by the Recreation Council.
Through its action, the City of St. Augustine in June 1963 ended an informal policy of segregation of the golf course. This was the first desegregation of a public facility in St. Augustine. Desegregation of public schools would not occur until the fall of 1963.
Moreover, desegregation of public accommodations in St. Augustine would not be so easily achieved and would lead to much negative publicity for St. Augustine in the coming year. The Civil Rights activities in St. Augustine would play a major role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The desegregation of the municipal mini golf course was the first chapter in this important historical event.
St. Augustine Bedtime Stories capture the city's rich history. 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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