by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The City’s trust fund for historical renovation is headed rapidly toward a zero balance, leaving $7 million in downtown revitalization as its legacy. But as they search for more funding, City planners and Council members say they want the fund to be self–sufficient in the future.
Prior to approving last weeks $150,000 to refurbish a LaVilla building, the Downtown Development Authority board discussed the dwindling fund. The West Adams Street project had drained the fund to about $430,000; a sum that DDA managing director Al Battle said could easily be spent on two waiting projects.
Battle said Tuesday he would consult with Mayor John Peyton early next year to decide the fund’s future. Battle said it would be up to the mayor and the Council to decide how much money to put back into the fund and where that money would come from. He said the City could also change the way future funds are dispersed.
“I think everything will be on the table as far as to what extent the City wants to fund future historical revitalization and perhaps ways there might be to allocate the funds differently,” said Battle. “I see our [the DDA] role as to hopefully provide insight into what the proper amount might be and hopefully make the case that the trust fund has been an asset in preserving some of downtown’s historical structures.”
Created a year and a half ago, the City has offered the Historic Downtown Trust Fund money as incentive to developers to maintain the historical look and feel of buildings downtown and throughout neighborhoods such as LaVilla and Springfield. The preservation efforts cost developers money. Without the incentives, downtown builders would be more likely to bulldoze the structures then spend extra dollars to save them.
“Look at any surface parking lot downtown, and you realize there used to be a building there; I don’t think it serves our interests to continue down that path,” said City Council member Suzanne Jenkins, whose downtown district contains trust fund projects such as The Carlington and Laura Street’s Bisbee, Florida Life and Marble Bank buildings.
That quartet ate up the majority of the $7 million fund. The Council approved $5 million in incentives for the projects. A justified move, the Council said, because they were major projects at the center of the City’s business district.
Jenkins said the Council largely supported refurbishing the fund.
“I think there’s support there, yes,” said Jenkins. “The ones who have been there understand the dynamics of what we were trying to accomplish with the fund, and I trust the new people will be smart enough to understand its value.”
Jenkins said a funding source had yet to be identified. She said the fund in the future would likely be doled out in loans instead of grants. The fund has largely been spent without the expectation of repayment, according to Battle.
“We’ve pretty much given it away in all grants, we haven’t made use of a lot of loans,” said Battle.
After allowing many of its historical structures to deteriorate, Jenkins said it was necessary to give the money in grants to provide momentum to downtown’s historical redevelopment.
“We had to jump–start it to show people that we were serious; without the grants it might not have been feasible,” she said.
Jenkins said she would support more loans and matching funds in the future. Even at low interest rates, more private investment and repayment would make the fund “self–generating,” said Jenkins.
She said the City would likely be more selective with its money in the future. Redevelopment is gaining momentum downtown and in its surrounding neighborhoods, allowing the City to be more judicious in what projects it funds.
Whatever the changes, Jenkins said the trust fund is worth continuing.
“When you maintain the historical structure of a building, it provides a real value for its property and surrounding properties,” she said. “It allows you to maintain a source of pride and a legacy of history; particularly as we encourage more and more people to move downtown.”