Port may become Heritage Area -- Designation could qualify renovated port site for federal loans

Port may become Heritage Area -- Designation could qualify renovated port site for federal loans

PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 11/03/09

St. Augustine, oldest port in the nation, may be a candidate for a federal designation as a National Heritage Area, historian and archaeologist Dana Ste. Claire said Monday night.

Ste. Claire, executive director of the 450th Commemoration Commission, told more than 200 St. Augustine residents during a "general assembly" at Flagler College Auditorium that the port is only one area that will be improved before the city's 450th birthday bash in 2015.

"We will build the world a stage and host this," he said.

A renovated and improved port will amplify St. Augustine's role as one of the earliest points of international trade and commerce, and would, Ste. Claire said, be the perfect place to berth the "San Augustin," a reconstructed 16th-century Spanish caravel used by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513.

Other benefits would include increased tourism, national promotion through various sources and an eligibility for federal loans.

Sam Turner of St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum said a National Heritage Area "would be a community undertaking."

The Lighthouse, the A1A Scenic Highway group and St. Johns County will be taking the lead, he said.

"It will allow us to showcase important aspects of the (port)," he said. "It allows the city to appreciate what is has and to convey that to visitors."

So it would "dovetail easily" with other 450th commemoration preparations, he said.

The process can take two or three years, but the entire Heritage Area would include the entire watershed -- the Port plus both the Guana and Matanzas rivers.

"Our entire history is based on the water. It was the main means of transportation both in prehistory and after Europeans arrived," Turner said.

Residents who attended the Town Hall meeting were each given "First America" passports, stamped with a unique blue seal depicting a Spanish Conquistador and confirming they were there.

Ste. Claire outlined the draft strategic plan for the celebration, saying the Steering Committee would need many subcommittee members and volunteers.

"Would anyone want to chair the fundraising committee?" he asked jokingly.

Several residents questioned how the 2-1/2 year celebration -- from April 2013 to September 2015 -- will be funded. In other words, one member of the audience asked, "Will city taxpayers bear the burden of the cost?"

Mayor Joe Boles answered that one,

"Absolutely not," he said. "Each signature event will be responsible for its own funding. Plus the city will get a piece of every T-shirt, drinking cup or commemorative coin that's sold."

In addition, he said, the Steering Committee will receive $500,000 per year from the federal 450th Commemoration Commission, though appointments to that board are moving glacially through the Interior Department because all nominations must be vetted by the White House, Boles said.

"Our goal is to dream big," he said. "We are only limited by our creativity. In some ways, we'll have to rely on ourselves, just as we've done since 1565."

Discover First America series begins Thursday

The local 450th Commemoration Commission, in partnership with Flagler College, the city of St. Augustine, St. Johns County Tourist Development Council, and The St. Augustine Record, will host the free series. Grant support for the series comes from the Florida Humanities Council, Florida Public Archaeology, Florida Trust and Historic Research Media Institute.

All programs begin at 7 p.m. at Flagler College Auditorium.

* Thursday, Nov. 5 -- "Peoples Before Ponce de Leon," presented by the Seminole Tribe of Florida; Willie Johns of the Brighton Reservation, Okeechobee; and Herbie Jim and traditional arts demonstrators, Tampa.

* Monday, Nov. 23 -- "First America: Colonial St. Augustine," Actor Chaz Mena will conduct a Chautauqua performance as Pedro Menendez; Dr. Kathleen Deagan, Distinguished Research Curator at the University of Florida and Carl Halbirt, city archaeologist, St. Augustine.

* Wednesday, Dec. 9 -- "Pirates! Fact and Fiction," Dr. Pat Croce, Pirate Soul museum curator, author and entrepreneur; and Brendan Burke, Lighthouse Archeological Maritime Program.

* Thursday, Jan. 7 -- "The British are Coming!" presenting Bill Barker as Thomas Jefferson (through the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation), John Stevely as Jesse Fish and the British Night Watch.

* Friday, Feb. 5 -- "The Great Southern Cracker Roadshow," Janis Owens, author and storyteller, Dana Ste Claire, author and Cracker historian, and bluegrass musicians.

* Tuesday, April 13 -- "Palaces in Paradise: Flagler's Age of Opulence," Dr. Tom Graham, Professor Emeritus of History, Flagler College; John Blades, executive director of Flagler Museum; and a special "Conversation with Henry Flagler," with Flagler played by Tom Rahner and Mayor Joe Boles as himself.

* Tuesday, May 18 -- "Road to Freedom: African-Americans in Florida," by Derek Hankerson and James Bullock, both actors and creative directors.

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