IN HAEC VERBA: Echo House -- May We Have It Back, Please? (E-mail to Rev. Ron Rawls of St. Paul A.M.E. Church)

Dear Reverend Rawls:
1. Yesterday's St. Augustine Record contained the alarming news that you and St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.) want to tear down historic Echo House for a parking lot.
2. The building was transferred to the church on the representation it would be used for charitable purposes, for a school.
3. A parking lot is not a charitable purpose. The City could exercise its "right of reverter" and take back the property because a parking lot is not using the property "exclusively for non-profit, charitable and philanthropic purposes," in the words of the Quitclaim Deed from Echo House, Inc. to St. Paul A.M.E. Church.
4. A parking lot would trigger the right of reverter, I reckon.
5. May we have it back, please?
6. Let Echo House become part of the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. http://www.staugustgreen.com.
Thank you!
With kindest regards,
Ed Slavin
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
904-377-4998