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Curious to learn more about preservation or ways to get involved in your community, but don’t know where to start? We’re here to help. In our blog, our preservation experts break down current advocacy issues, ways to get involved, and local St. Pete happenings.
St. Petersburg, a city surrounded by water and known for its resort lifestyle, had no pools where African Americans could swim until 1954. That changed when Jennie Hall, an 85 year old white woman from Montana, stepped forward to help the African American community build a pool. With a rather startling and unannounced moment in front of St. Petersburg’s city council in June 1953, Jennie Hall proclaimed she would be donating $25,000 for a swimming pool to serve the African American community. To prove her seriousness, she wrote a check for $10,000 on the spot and promised an additional $15,000. The City Council, somewhat cowed and taken aback, agreed to match the gift with $35,000 of city funds.
Preserve the ‘Burg is often asked if there are benefits to a property being designated historic, either as a local landmark or listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The answer is a resounding yes! And the benefits typically apply whether the building is individually listed or listed as a contributing building to a historic district. The benefits can range from financial incentives, in the form of tax credits or reduced property taxes, to flexibility in the application of zoning and land use provisions, to the pride an owner receives in having the historic, architectural or cultural value of their property recognized. Below, I will identify and briefly describe some of these benefits.
If a building could talk, one would certainly want to sit down with the Snell building, anticipating a fascinating and unique conversation. The hard part would be how to choose the topics to fit into a single conversation! Should the conversation include how the Snell managed to rise in 1928 as the bust was taking over St. Petersburg, and include stories about the building’s original owner/developer, C. Perry Snell, whose second career as a developer raised the value of more property on the Pinellas Peninsula than any other individual or group over a nearly forty year time span? Or, one could easily spend a day discussing the Snell’s architect, Richard Kiehnel, and the architectural style and detailing he chose, including the arcade that banker Hubert Rutland closed off after he purchased the building in 1943! Finally, the Snell could explain to you how today’s owners have used existing preservation incentives to again make the building one of the downtown stars and a building fit for modern times.
Today, I ask you to take a moment to close your eyes and imagine St Pete without the Vinoy. Without our waterfront parks. Without buildings like The Detroit Hotel on First Block or the Crislip Arcade on Central Avenue. For me, it’s impossible to imagine St. Pete without these places, and I imagine it’s difficult for you, too.
"Without a doubt the question we hear the most often at PTB is: What’s going on with the old YMCA on 2nd Avenue South and 5th Street? The short, and unsatisfying answer is: Not Much."
