by Tammy Taylor
Staff Writer
The Holmes Block, located in the proposed Town Center on East Bay Street, was designated a historic landmark Wednesday in an unanimous decision by the Historic Preservation Commission.
“There is no way we can not approve this,” said Commission vice president Bill Leuthold
Paul Weaver, a consultant from Historic Property Associates, completed the historic significance report for the buildings’ owners, Protocore, Inc.
“The owners want to do some general things with the Holmes Block like a restaurant and an entertainment place,” said Weaver.
According to the planning and development designation and application report, “the present owners plan to maintain the traditional present use as commercial and office space, with a restaurant the likely anchor tenant.”
Along with receiving the landmark designation, Weaver also received approval on proposed storefront and masonry restorations.
“Work on the block is in its beginning stages and we are doing our best to keep the building historically accurate,” he said.
Weaver is also campaigning to have the Holmes Block listed in the National Register of Historic Preservation.
“There are substantial financial incentives to have the building on the local and/or national register,” said Weaver, “and the Bureau of Historic Preservation in Tallahassee gave the go-ahead.”
The Holmes Block was one of the first buildings constructed after Jacksonville’s Great Fire of 1901. The buildings, with construction emulating the pre-fire architecture period, was erected during the period from 1901-1920 known as the Jacksonville Renaissance. The block is also a textbook example of the two-part block, the most used commercial design in the United States from 1850 to 1950.
In 1902, the Duval County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution designating the upstairs of the Holmes Block as the Circuit Court and Criminal Court of Records rooms while the new Duval County Courthouse was rebuilt after being destroyed by the fire.
The Holmes Block, most likely designed by owner and architect Rutledge Holmes, was occupied by architecture pioneers Alfred E. McClure and George O. Holmes.
According to the Planning Department report, McClure, a Civil War Veteran, was part of the most prominent architecture firm in Florida during the 1870s and 1880s. He later became the dean of Jacksonville architects and after the Great Fire, partnered with George O. Holmes.
George O. Holmes served as president of the Florida Association of Architects in 1915 and was president of the Florida Board of Architects for eight years.
Their partnership was responsible for the Central Fire Station, the Old Jacksonville Women’s Club, the Corse Building and the Charles C. Bettes Residence located in Ortega.