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Loss Of School A Blow To Those Preserving Tampa's Past

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By SHERRI ACKERMAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2008

TAMPA - When the red bricks of the 95-year-old Gary School came crashing down last week, neighborhood activist Fran Costantino cried.

Her tears were for residents such as she who fought to save the building that fell victim to neglect and was demolished. And for the city, which will never be able to justify the loss.

"It's a historical tragedy," Costantino said, "and totally preventable."

Her sentiment was shared by others in the community, including city leaders who vowed to protect what's left of Tampa's monuments to our past - legacies that are vulnerable to time and the elements.

"We cannot afford another loss," Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena pleaded recently to fellow council members. "... Shame on us."

Saul-Sena has called for special funding to prevent what is commonly known as "demolition by neglect." In the case of the Gary school, a hole in the roof led to damage that over time ate away at the structure, causing a collapse.

There are at least three other historically and culturally significant buildings threatened by decay, Saul-Sena said.

Among them is the 79-year-old Kress Building, which has been vacant for years with broken and boarded-up windows. If the roof caved in, it might cause blight along the downtown corridor that boasts Tampa Theatre, the old Federal Courthouse and the new Element condominiums, Saul-Sena said.

She proposes using $100,000 from the city's Community Redevelopment Agency to put a new roof on the building and eventually create an emergency fund to stabilize other at-risk historic structures. City officials will spend the next 30 days researching the idea.

The Kress building on Franklin Street is privately owned, which may prevent public money from being used. But an argument can be made that the building's deterioration would affect the public, said Bob McDonaugh, the city's urban development manager.

Kress owner Jeannette Jason is eager to hear more.

"If they're willing to help us, we would be very happy to work with them," Jason said.

Her partnership, which includes her father, purchased the building in 2004. But the family has been involved with the structure for years, she said.

Development plans have been presented to the city, but they were met with hurdles too difficult for her group to overcome, she said. Some included preserving facades on buildings that the owners planned to tear down.

"The city in the past hasn't appeared interested in working with us," she said. "What they're asking us to do right now, we just can't do."

Preserving old buildings is a costly endeavor and one that many owners learn they can't afford or simply don't understand, McDonaugh said.

"When you see a lot of these older buildings, the materials that are needed are no longer available or very cost prohibitive," he said.

Even regular maintenance can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, such as the roof repairs needed at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church on Harrison Street.

"We can't get insurance until we get that fixed," said the Rev. Bryant A. Fayson, who oversees a congregation of about 150 people. "We just can't afford it."

He would welcome the city's assistance. "We sure would be interested," he said.

Many such buildings qualify for state and federal grants, said Dennis Fernandez, the city's historic preservation manager. There are other incentives, too, for owners who renovate historic structures, such as breaks on local property taxes and a federal tax credit program.

But those programs tend to focus on buildings in the midst of development, Fernandez said. What's lacking is something for buildings not immediately being rehabbed.

It takes a cooperative effort, between public and private enterprise, but ultimately, "it takes a commitment from an owner," he said.

For Costantino, a Realtor who heads the East Ybor Historic and Civic Association, preserving Tampa's past is simple: "It's got to become a priority."

Researcher Michael Messano contributed to this report. Reporter Sherri Ackerman can be reached at (813) 259-7144 or sackerman@tampatrib.com

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