by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
The Downtown Development Authority unanimously approved special funding to help rehabilitate two historic buildings as part of a plan to reduce the number of vacancies and attract more visitors to downtown.
The DDA agreed to tap the Historic Preservation Trust Fund for $627,253 for the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art and for $374,500 for the Hutchinson-Suddath building.
Restoration has already been completed at the historic art-deco museum, which greeted 2,000 visitors at its May 3 opening, Executive Director Jane Craven told the DDA.
An estimated 3,000 visitors have visited the museum since it opened, she added.
Total construction cost for the five-story building at 333 N. Laura St. was $3,914,936.
“This was a pipeline project,” said DDA chairman Robert Rhodes. “It’s not opening the door for after-the-fact projects.”
The museum was formerly occupied by the Western Union Telegraph Co., “whose significant growth locally paralleled the city’s progressive increase in size, population and financial importance,” according to a DDA staff report.
Western Union occupied the building from 1931 to 1962. During the height of World War II, the business handled more than 38,000 telegrams each day.
The four-story Hutchinson-Suddath building, at 315-319 W. Bay St., will be renovated for commercial, office and residential use. Total project cost is reportedly $1,289,000 for exterior and interior renovations and for safety improvements.
The 20,000-square-foot building was designed in 1910 for the Hutchinson Shoe Co., a wholesale distributor. It was bought in 1931 by Carl Suddath, founder of Suddath Moving and Storage. With the exception of a sandwich shop on the ground floor, the building has been vacant since 2000.
The DDA’s recommendations will be forwarded to the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. Final approval rests with City Council.
General revenue funds totaling $7 million for historic preservation projects were ratified in February 2002. Now that a half-dozen restoration applications have been approved, a bit more than $560,000 remains in the fund, according to DDA managing director Al Battle.
“The projects you’ve considered represent a significant impact on these buildings,” Battle told the DDA board. “These are buildings that give a great street presence.”
Vacant buildings give residents and visitors negative images that the City is trying to change, Battle added.
“Trying to change those is part of what the Trust Fund is all about,” he said.
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The board also approved a proposed $1,116,746 budget submitted by Downtown Vision Inc. for 2003-04. The request is $25,000 higher than the budget approved for the current year.
“We have moved from being a clean-and-safe organization to more of a marketing arm for downtown,” said Executive Director Terry Lorince. “We are now more of an advocacy group for downtown.”
The organization’s “primary concern,” she added, has become “how do we make downtown more fun and vibrant.”