More history to be destroyed by greedy developers?

HARB approves demolition of listing 'carpenter's house' on former Dow Museum property
Posted: April 16, 2015 - 4:36pm

By STUART KORFHAGE
stuart.korfhage@staugustine.com
David Corneal and his team were tired of waiting. They demanded an answer from St. Augustine’s Historic Architectural Review Board at Thursday’s meeting.

It was close, but Corneal liked the final decision.

Despite the attempt of chairman Randal Roark to continue the issue for the second time, the HARB board voted 2-1 to allow Corneal to demolish the red “carpenter’s house” on his property at 145 Cordova St.

The house is part of what used to be the Dow Museum of Historic Houses of St. Augustine. It is now owned by Corneal of St. Augustine, and he is restoring the property with the intention of turning it into an inn.

Corneal and his representative Mark Knight first brought the issue before HARB a month ago, but the board continued it because it wanted more information.

Corneal has a proposal for a Planned Unit Development that would allow him to use the property as an inn, but that will not be heard by the Planning and Zoning Board until May 5. He will also meet with HARB again in May to ask for an opinion of appropriateness for the project.

On Thursday, Knight brought a layout of the proposed finished product of what’s being called the Cordova Inn. He showed that the space vacated by the carpenter’s house would be used for the stage of a small amphitheater.

For the most part, though, the applicant’s argument was the same Thursday as last month: The building is unsound and simply not salvageable. And it’s also not historically significant.

“It’s worthless; it’s falling apart,” Corneal said Thursday. “It was a carpenter’s shed, and now it’s falling down.”

Corneal stuck by the same engineer’s report he relied upon last meeting that said the building was unsafe.

At Thursday’s meeting, city staff also read the summary from a city building inspector that did not portray the house as being in the same state of decay as Corneal’s report.

Instead, the inspector, who was not at the meeting for reasons city staff could not explain, wrote that the carpenter’s house had problems but was not necessarily a lost cause.

The report said work done 15 years ago had stabilized the building, keeping the it from listing further. It did say that water damage has continued because of probable leaks from the fireplace and roof.

“I cannot say that the building is not structurally unsafe; however, it is my opinion that while the building is not currently inhabitable, an effort could be made to save it for historical value,” the report said.

Knight and Corneal argued that the carpenter’s house was an “ancillary” building and not of historical significance.

Several people from the neighborhood did speak out against the plan to demolish the structure, saying it is more than 100 years old and contributes to the historic character of the area. And they wondered if a real effort was being made to preserve the building.

The board asked if it might be helpful to have Corneal’s engineer respond to the city inspector’s report, but Corneal balked at any further delay.

“The existing building is not retrievable; there is no question about it,” he said. “I have every right to remove that property, and I will incorporate as much as possible into the (amphitheater). I’m not going to spend thousands of dollars to find out what I already know.”

Board member Matthew Armstrong said he wasn’t convinced the building could not be saved. However, he said the work required to make it usable again would be more of a reconstruction than a restoration, which would serve no great purpose.

Therefore, he made the motion to approve the demolition. Toni Wallace reluctantly seconded the motion, agreeing with Armstrong’s view. Since only three of them voted, that made it clear the motion would be approved.

Roark, who had asked for another continuance, voted no. The applicant has the right to demand a decision, and Knight said they would not accept a continuance.

The other HARB member present, Jeremy Marquis, recused himself because he is an architect working on Corneal’s project.

Following the meeting, Corneal said he wants to make the old Dow property into something special that will have minimal impact on the surrounding neighborhood. He hopes Thursday’s vote was a move in the direction of getting his ultimate plans approved.

“I love the project,” he said. “It should be done. It’s the only way to preserve historic properties like this.”