by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
The City Council will vote on — and likely approve — legislation Tuesday to allocate nearly $1 million to renovate Brewster Hospital in LaVilla.
Despite a split vote earlier this week, both the Finance and Recreation & Community Development committees recommended the bill for approval. Council members Michael Corrigan and Daniel Davis abstained.
At one time the city’s only African-American medical facility, the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission said earlier this year that Brewster could be moved a block and half away to make room for a new medical complex in the area.
As part of that ruling, the City would have to agree to spend funds in two existing LaVilla redevelopment accounts to cover restoration costs.
“I’m sorry that it will have to move, but at least the funds to restore it have been put in place,” said City Council member Glorious Johnson. “I am satisfied with this outcome.”
Since her term began over a year ago, Johnson has lobbied hard to keep the locally designated landmark at its original location.
She and other Brewster advocates argued that moving the abandoned structure would not only weaken its foundation, but also disqualify it from receiving federal and State grants.
“We need that money. We need those grants,” Johnson said in January. “We’ve been told by the State that if we move it, we’ll be put at the bottom of the list behind other historical properties in need of funding.”
City attorneys later confirmed that funding wouldn’t be available if the hospital was moved.
“That’s basically the way it works,” said Jason Teal, an attorney in the General Counsel’s Office. “Knowing that, the Historic Preservation Commission said, ‘You can move it, but the City has to commit to restoring it, too.”
Until now, the City has only been responsible for “maintaining” Brewster and making it structurally secure.
“Now what the City is going to have to do is provide funding for the major work that’s going to eventually take place,” said Teal.
Adding that relocation costs are already a City responsibility, Teal speculated that the two accounts targeted for the Brewster renovation, will likely be bankrupted after the project is completed. Teal was unsure of their original purpose.
No move date has been scheduled and representatives from the Jacksonville Economic Development Authority said, until the Council approves the legislation next week, that won’t change.
“We really can’t comment beyond that,” said JEDC spokesperson Jean Moyer. “The Council will have to pass that bill first.”
A future use for Brewster also remains unclear. Johnson said she would like to see it reopened as a museum or welcome center for tourists.
“I think that’s the best use for the building because it is in an excellent location, right off of the interstate,” she said. “Not to mention that there is no other welcome center in the city.”