City weighs its appearance

City weighs its appearance

By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 06/07/09

St. Augustine's future appearance may be profoundly shaped Monday by the City Commission, which will consider a resolution requiring all new construction in two downtown historic areas to be Spanish or British colonial architecture.

This measure would replace a 2003 resolution allowing new buildings in those areas to be any architectural style that is similar to adjacent or nearby homes.

Architect Jerry Dixon, of Dixon & Associates, supports the new resolution, saying that St. Augustine's colonial architecture is unique and should be the dominant feature of Historic Preservation Districts 2 and 3, the heart of downtown.

"That is what the city was," Dixon said. "Most of those buildings were torn down. The idea (for this resolution) is to develop St. Augustine heritage tourism. People come here to look at 2nd Spanish colonial. They don't come here to look at brick buildings. You could see those anywhere."

Controversy erupted Mayor Joe Boles called it "a fire storm of debate" after architect Don Crichlow a St. Augustine commissioner designed a re-creation of the old brick Bishop Building that stood at 180 St. George St. and Cathedral Place until it was torn down in the 1960s.

After that design was presented, critics criticized its modernistic look, but Crichlow said he designed it to match the original building and conform to other nearby structures from the turn-of-the-century commercial period.

"Every building should complement the architecture around it," Crichlow said.

The design, with some modifications, was granted a certificate of approval by the city's Historic Architectural Review Board, and on Monday the City Commission will decide whether to grant a zoning change application.

The Bishop Building plans have nothing to do with the proposed resolution.

Historian David Nolan said a colonial building built in a neighborhood of Victorian homes or bungalows "would stick out like a sore thumb. They tore down all the real buildings. So the argument is: Should we build this type of fake building or that type of fake building? It would be a mistake to go back to all colonial."

Nolan's book, "The Houses of St. Augustine," points out the value of saving buildings rather than replacing them.

Crichlow said limiting historic districts to only colonial style "goes against every (architectural) principle there is. We have a diverse history. Our Spanish heritage is cherished, but you can't ignore everything that happened after that. Spain has 19th century buildings next to 8th century buildings. It shows how the city progressed."

Mayor Joe Boles said that before the 2003 resolution, building styles had to conform to pre-1821 standards, which were essentially colonial.

"That worked fine in HP-1 (South St. George Street and Marine Street). That's why we have as much Spanish (architecture) as we do," Boles said.

But the 2003 change to allow neighboring styles in the area stretching from the Plaza de la Constitucion to the Castillo de San Marcos "wasn't given a whole lot of review at the time."

That allowed "nearby, down the street or around the corner" architecture, he said.

Bill Adams, director of the city's Historic Preservation and Heritage Tourism, said this is an "old problem."

The pre-1821 requirement arose from Albert Manucy's book "Houses of St. Augustine," which outlined the styles, doorknobs, trim and other details of homes built before that year.

"But (the colonial requirement) didn't deal with the fact that the vast majority of buildings in St. Augustine were built post-1821 and in fact post-1900," Adams said. "When HARB began in 1974, it immediately started wrestling with that question and had no answer for it. If the city wants to put in a restored or reconstructed colonial city, it should outline the boundaries."

Dixon said the city's heritage is closely connected with preserving its earliest aspect. "We do have a lot of different styles, but let's put those two historic areas back into our colonial history," he said.

Crichlow said, "The illogic of replacing post-colonial buildings with colonial is apparent. Who's to say that the colonial era is more important than the Flagler era? History evolves. You've got to tell the whole story."

The St. Augustine City Commission meets at 5 p.m. Monday in the Alcazar Room, City Hall, 75 King St.

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