Big buildings on campus

Big buildings on campus

Henry Flagler's railway towers now part of Flagler College

By MARCIA LANE
marcia.lane@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 12/01/08


When Kathy O'Keefe, head of Flagler College's alumni relations, looks out the windows of her new office, she can see the building where her dad once worked and the corner where she waited for him on playground swings.

"It's emotional for me," she admits, standing in her office on the third floor of A Building, one in the set of three identical towers at the corner of Malaga and King streets that once housed the headquarters of Florida East Coast Railway.

Her father was an executive on the third floor of the building next to her, in the office location that's identical to hers.

"Now it's the women's dorm," O'Keefe says. The third building houses male students.

The three buildings are a local landmark tied to the railway built by Gilded Age industrialist and Florida promoter Henry Flagler.

Now they're home to nearly 200 Flagler College students and workspace for employees displaced from Markland, administration offices for the college and once Henry Flagler's residence.

For students it's a rare opportunity to live in a building of marble walls and floors, egg and dart molding, bronze-trimmed elevators and 15-foot ceilings.

For the college it's a chance to keep building a community.

William Abare, the college's president, credits Florida East Coast Industries CEO Adolfo Henriquez with making the deal possible. The college originally approached the company about some day acquiring parking space between the buildings and a City of St. Augustine fire station.

Two months later Henriquez came back to him and "basically made an offer we couldn't refuse," Abare says.

The offer was a purchase/gift agreement with $7.6 million gifted to the college by FEC. The college paid $10 million for its part of the deal. Abare says it was "the largest single gift that the college ever received in its history."

The company had decided to move its headquarters to Jacksonville. As part of its agreement with the college the exterior of the buildings stay the same and the buildings remain known as FEC buildings A, B and C. The FEC Railway signs will remain in place.

The company, which had done a major building renovation in 2000, also left all the furniture for college use.

Flagler has spent an estimated $9 million more renovating two of the buildings for student use, improving parking and security and enhancing the landscaping.

The parking lot gives students a place for their cars and has helped relieve the ever-present problem of enough parking spaces.

Walk through the marble hallways linking the bottom floors and you wouldn't be surprised to see people in business suits. Instead you'll run into casually dressed Flagler students headed for class or maybe chilling out in the lounge areas. A uniformed security officer mans the security cameras at a desk in the hall.

Popular dorms

Glenn Josephik, head resident adviser for the men's dorm, says the majority of the students in the two floors he oversees are freshmen. Originally, he says, officials were "unsure we'd be able to fill the buildings."

That's turned out not to be a problem.

"We're trying to have more activities to build a sense of community on campus," Josephik says. A new student center a couple of blocks away is helping.

The main drawback students living in the FEC buildings find is "It's a little bit of a walk, especially when it's raining."

Student cards provide access into the buildings and through them, although the cards also limit them to their own areas. Josephik says some students don't like the fact the facilities aren't co-ed, but he notes parents seem to appreciate the division of the sexes and believe the security increases safety.

Moving in

While dorms are filled, the office building is still in a state of flux as officials move in and unpack. Officials quickly discovered the frosted glass windowed offices, while spacious, don't have closets.

"We have a good track record on preservation," notes Leslee Keys, director of the college's Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations Office of Institutional Advancement. After all, Henry Flagler's grand Ponce de Leon hotel is the main building of the college, which was founded 40 years ago.

Keys is also an expert on architecture and speaks with appreciation about the incredible detail and design that make up the three structures.

"Even though it's an office building, they put in a lot of detail," she says. Among the items that are staying, she points out, are the office directories on the first floor that will retain the names of those who once were housed there.

Nicole Pece, who works in the college's advancement office and is now in A building, appreciates the view and the history.

"The view is spectacular," Pece says.

One detail she loves are the marble stairs.

"When you walk on them, you can see where people's shoes have worn them down through the years."

Additional space

Abare says part of the building may be used for classrooms and he can see it as temporary headquarters for the Communications Department if the college decides to rebuild its current offices. "It would be a perfect location," he notes.

FLAGLER COLLEGEA PROPAGANDA: While some protested over the buildings going to the college, Abare points out the college is "very, very responsible in terms of growth. We're trying to utilize the resources we have -- and make the best use of facilities we have."

MORE FLAGLER COLLEGE PROPAGANDA: While the buildings may not be on the tax roll, the college does put money back into the town and has helped preserve a number of buildings, he says, adding the economic impact is substantial.

ABOUT THE BUILDINGS

* Served as Florida East Coast Railway offices from late 1920s until 2006

* Flagler College received them as part of gift/purchase agreement from FEC

* A Building houses college offices

* B building houses women's dorm

* C building houses men's dorm


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