Published by former Mayor George Gardner November 25 2015
The Report is an independent publication serving our community
Contributions are appreciated
|
|
 Major projects on King Street
At the end of a 7-hour session last week, the Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) approved preliminary designs for two major projects across King Street from each other off US 1.
 Flagler College dorm and parking facility At 1 Malaga Street Flagler College proposes a 150-student two-story residential hall and parking facility around its dormitories in the former trio of Florida East Coast Railway buildings. College President William Abare told the board the site has been under study for more than a year, that the city identified the location as desirable for a parking facility, and architectural elements will mirror elements used in the FEC buildings. Four-story hotel Across King Street and adjacent to Theo's Restaurant, Gulfstream Design Group proposes a 4-story hotel on the San Sebastian River.
The property is zoned Residential and General Office (RGO), which allows a 50 foot height.
The site is across the river from the Sebastian Inland Harbor development purchased by Summit Hospitality Group, which last year renovated the former San Marco Inn to a Doubletree. Board members asked that the hotel entrance on Prawn Street be redesigned, but otherwise gave preliminary approval to it as well as the Flagler plan. City staff will work through details with both to return for final approvals.
|
|
|
A Thanksgiving weekend tradition for half a century, the 50th annual St. Augustine Art & Craft Festival hosted by the St. Augustine Art Association unfolds Saturday 10 am - 5 pm Sunday 10 am - 4:30 pm at Francis Field.
"This premier outdoor art fair is a Thanksgiving tradition that attracts thousands of visitors, discerning art collectors and savvy holiday shoppers," association folks say.
"The event helps support the Art Association programs, while animating the local arts scene and boosting the economy of the nation's oldest city."
Look for more than 150 artists with a wide variety of paintings, pottery, jewelry, sculpture, fiber art and eclectic crafts.
|
|
|
Demolition Derby
Santa Maria
demolition OKd
The iconic former Santa Maria Restaurant in the bay can be demolished, but not until the approving St. Augustine Historic Architectural Review Board is satisfied with replacement plans.
The demolition approval was one of four granted by HARB in a lengthy 7-hour session last week.
Owner David White's architect Joe Cronk told the board last Thursday they're seeking in the replacement structures ways for patrons "to experience St. Augustine in ways that we've seen already from dock structures."
But the board questioned the mass and scale, and whether the current structure, with major modifications in the 1960s, retains any of the original historic character.
The replacement has been dubbed White's Wharf.
While satisfied the current structure should be demolished, White will return to the board in December for a certificate of appropriateness for its replacement.
|
Also approved for demolition
The 1925 grocery at 198 West King Street, vacant since 2006 and occupied briefly from 2011 by Mariotti Cleaners, which has since moved back to its familiar US 1 location. Owner Broudy Bros, LTD has no current plans to redevelop the site.
A tree-shrouded circa 1924 house at 16 Garnett Avenue, long vacant and "populated by raccoons and rats," Ponce Hotel, Inc. architect Jerry Dixon told the board. He said it would likely become a parking lot in hotel plans.
A 1950s cottage at 163 M L King Avenue. A representative for William Brown and Gail Wisler says the building is "termite ridden" and would be replaced with a similar cottage style modular structure. While not opposed to the demolition, the board continued final action to get a building condition assessment report from the owners.
|
The City of St. Augustine will pay former 450 Marketing Strategist Charlie Seraphin $40,000 to settle his lawsuit charging unlawful termination after email exchanges with then-mayoral candidate Nancy Shaver raising questions about her resume.
The $40,000, to be paid by the city's insurance company, doesn't fully cover Seraphin's legal costs, he says.
City Manager John Regan said Seraphin was terminated for interfering in the political process. "The civil service side of the municipal government is apolitical," said Regan of the termination.
|
|
|
|
Tweaking begins for May Street redesign
 With approval from the City Commission, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is moving ahead with a multi million dollar fix for the May Street and San Marco Avenue intersection. The St. Johns County Commission also unanimously supported the alternative.
"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," said FDOT spokesperson Gina Busscher.
Major impact will be reducing typically long queue lines westbound on May Street from 4,500 to 84 feet and 6,494 feet to 788 feet during busiest periods.
FDOT will have consultants designing safest bicycle lanes, and will tweak main library access with creation of double left turn lanes from West San Carlos to US 1.
And City Manager John Regan says the city has funding in place to study cut-through traffic abatement in the Nelmar neighborhood adjacent to May Street.
FDOT has $2.5 million in project construction funding for the 2016-17 budget period.
|
Mission exhibits silver artifacts
 Silver religious artifacts discovered in a citrus grove on Oneida Street in 1879 are on display in the Mission Nombre de Dios Museum.
They're on loan from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, where they've been since 1880.
The four objects on display are a standing cup, 1750-1800 silver, Paten 18th century gilt silver, Chalice ca. 1600 gilt silver, ciborium 18th century silver bowl, and copper or bronze baluster bowl with lid, stem and foot.
St. Augustine Historical Society Executive Director Susan Parker gave a presentation recently on the "Unburied Silver Artifacts of St. Augustine - Sacred Vessels on Exhibits."
Contributed by Raphael Cosme
|
History's Highlight
The Indians at Fort Marion
The Americans were the first to use the Castillo de San Marcos as a prison. In October, 1837, the renamed Fort Marion was crowded with several hundred prisoners. Along with Osceola, many of the important Seminole chiefs had been captured and were now behind fort walls.
 In 1875, Richard Henry Pratt transported a small group of 72 Indian prisoners to St. Augustine. These men, women and children were shackled and transported by rail to Ft. Marion, far from their arid homelands to a hot, humid climate unfamiliar to them.
Upon arrival, Pratt removed the prisoners' shackles and forced cultural assimilation by cutting their hair and issuing them military uniforms. The Indians were expected to polish their buttons and shoes and clean and press their trousers.
In 1878, Fort Marion's prisoners were given the freedom to leave the fort unchaperoned. Some found employment as day laborers in neighboring communities. Pratt encouraged the Indians to seek more education, and seventeen went to Hampton University in Virginia. Others were educated at private colleges in New York. All funds for their education were raised by private benefactors.
Aside from Pratt's improvements, the steamy Florida lowlands were harsh for the Chiricahua Apaches. They struggled to survive in an impossibly overcrowded, mosquito-infested environment.
Accustomed to the dry Southwest, the Apaches were affected by the extreme humidity. Given meager rations, the prisoners grew malnourished and sick. Lacking access to traditional medicinal plants, the Chiricahuas were helpless to stem the tide of disease.
By 1889, 119 of the 498 Chiricahuas were dead. 82 of the prisoners were men, and not more than 15 of them had been resisters in the previous years. Even the children who were sent to the Carlisle Indian Boarding School in Pennsylvania succumbed. Approximately a hundred students arrived at Carlisle in 1886, and some 27 would die three years later.
Image: Plains Indian prisoners arriving at Fort Marion, Unknown photographer, about 1875, Courtesy Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Image 1004474
|
|
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 a former newspaper reporter and editor. Contact the Report at gardner@aug.com or gardnerstaug@yahoo.com
|
|
|
|
|
