With a positive vote from St. Pete City Council on November 23, local preservationists moved ahead in their efforts to protect a historic home in Allendale. But this victory was hard-won, and the education of the developer who finally supported the designation was the tipping point.
Why, oh why, is it so challenging to protect historic structures in our area?
It seems to require herculean effort by the community… hordes of attendees at public hearings, reams of detailed substantial competent evidence of the historic value, and lots of political arm-twisting to wrest a positive vote from local governments.
If the best way to gain supporters is to educate the public about preservation, then the Saturday Morning Walking Tours are the perfect starting point. St. Pete Preservation (SPP) offers these delightful two-hour tours starting at 10 a.m. from various urban neighborhoods. Knowledgable guides weave tales of developers and demolition, history and design.
Recognizing that it takes a variety of programs to engage people, SPP offers a lively mix, including lectures, porch parties and a movie series in May. Allison Stribling, the newly hired executive director, will be busy with these activities as well as the advocacy role which SPP shoulders.
Fortunately, this group has an impressive and energetic board, including Bill Heller, a former state representative; Jeff Danner, a former St. Pete City Council member; and County Commissioner Charlie Justice, who has really stepped up as a preservation supporter, promoting the county’s investment in protecting its own historic buildings.
Justice feels that people are waking up to preservation’s impact. He observes that “neighborhood by neighborhood, our community is more aware of tax benefits, economic benefits and quality of life value. We have so many unique communities.”
The commissioner also serves as the non-voting chair of the Pinellas County Historic Preservation Board, which makes decisions on property in unincorporated Pinellas County. This group recently designated the Ozona Village Improvement Society (OVIS) Hall as a protected structure, a move that drew loads of public support.
Ozona resident Brian Smith, former MPO director for Pinellas County, was actively involved in protecting the OVIS. He brags that the building, used continuously since 1900, has been the cradle of community initiatives in north county, including the creation of the volunteer fire department in the 1930s.
Elsewhere in Pinellas, small museums are playing an important role in preserving our built past. Largo’s Heritage Village is an open-air museum featuring a dozen homes, schools and other turn-of-the-last-century buildings; it’s run almost entirely by volunteers. A bit further south, the Palm Harbor Museum, which protects the story of this small community, is housed in the 1914 Hartley House; Sallie Parks, a former county commissioner, calls it “one of the jewels of Pinellas County.” She speaks appreciatively of the resources that the county is investing in replacing the windows, but understands the challenges faced by all small museums.
While these community museums are important for the history they preserve, the stories they tell, and their ability to place you in an authentic setting, the goal of preservationists is not to freeze-dry time. They want to keep the good stuff — and just because a building is old doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s worth saving.
Advocates working to preserve St. Pete’s important sites and structures are not against development; they’d just rather support thoughtful growth that honors our past.
Politically, the challenge is to protect a building whose owners don’t support the designation.
The National Bank Building on Central Avenue, its original exterior covered with a 1960s “cheese grater” facade, is caught up in a real estate battle. SPP President Emily Elywn explains, “There’s no incentive to redevelop it… we’re not sure what’s going to happen.”
Another imperiled structure is the Union Bank building at 801 Central Avenue, designed by M. Leo Elliot in 1925 and added onto in 1936 and 1960. The new developer wants a demolition permit, but the preservation community wants to see if there’s a way to integrate the original fabric and its brick details into whatever is being planned.
Peter Belmont, SPP’s vice president, sums up the challenge facing St. Pete.
“So much of what’s driving people to St. Petersburg is a unique sense of place,” he says. “We’re going through a boom period now, and we need effective preservation policies.”
Where’s the fast-forward button for protecting the past?
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2015.