by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Participation is the name of the game for Barbara Goll of AllPro Realty Specialists and Robert Weeks of Robert Weeks Construction Company.
After almost 20 plus years of involvement with the St. Johns Builders Council, they both received the Hall of Fame Recognition Award, which was recently reestablished by the SJBC in 2004. Both were charter members of the organization, which was formed over three decades ago.
“I was trying to come up with something to give to our members who do special things for the organization,” said Leona Brown, director of the St. Johns Builders Council. “It’s for members who are willing to give up their extra time. For instance, Barbara Goll is always there whenever we need her and she is always at the events helping out. Robert Weeks helped start the council and has been a member since the beginning.”
Brown said she gives out Builder of the Year and other awards, but she wanted an award that was even more special to award people like Goll and Weeks.
At the end of 2004, Brown consulted with the current chair, Robert Marshall of World Island Builders, to determine who should win.
“This was a total surprise,” said Brown. “Only Marshall and I knew that we were giving the award and who we were giving it to.”
Brown said each year she will consult with the current chairman to determine who should win the award.
“I felt like they were both deserving of some recognition,” said Brown. Since she chose a man and a woman for the first award, Brown said she will continue that tradition in the future. The council currently has about 260 members.
“I was shocked and surprised,” said Goll. “There were many more people there that certainly deserved the recognition better than I would have. I was shocked. It was a nice award to receive.”
Goll said she has received many benefits from being a member for so long.
She said she has made some great friendships and has gotten a lot of leads.
“I sell land and builders need land,” she said. “Builders need commercial and residential land, so it works as a business partnership to be involved with them.”
Goll was also instrumental in getting Brown to have an office in the St. Augustine/St. Johns County Board of Realtors office to encourage a smoother working relationship between the two organizations.
“It makes us all blend just a little bit better,” said Goll. “We’ve created even more teamwork between certain Realtors and builders which is a good thing because they didn’t used to get along and didn’t like each other for whatever reason. I said well, I’m both, so something has to be done here.”
The chair of the St. Johns Builders Council, Robert Marshall of World Island Builders, presents Barbara Goll of AllPro Realty Specialists with the Hall of Fame Recognition Award as Leona Brown, director of the St. Johns Builders Council, looks on.
Barbara Goll
Barbara Goll is a commercial Realtor with AllPro Realty Specialists Inc. in St. Augustine and has been licensed since 1968.
Her involvement in the St. John Builders Council stemmed from the fact she and her former husband were also general contractors and she was one of the first female builders in St. Augustine.
She and her husband had their own company in South Florida but decided to go to work for a larger company shortly after they moved to St. Augustine.
“We both worked as a project manager for James M. Barker Company out of Jacksonville and he was the builder of a big portion of the condominiums on the beach including Sand Dollar, Ocean Villas, Island South and Pier Point,” she said. She did that during the 1980’s and then decided to focus strictly on commercial real estate and land since then.
She has received many awards over the years including and St. Johns County Builder Board Member of the Year in 2002, St. Johns Builders Council Affiliate of the Year 2003, the St. Augustine/St. Johns County Board of Realtors’ Realtor Team of the Year with her partner John Pack in 2003 and the O.E. Barnes Humanitarian Award which given to her and Pack from the St. Augustine/St. Johns County Board of Realtors in 2004. She and Pack also won the Florida Association Honor Society Award for the past two years.
She has been an active member of both the St. Augustine/St. Johns County Board of Realtors (serving as treasurer for the past three) and the St. Johns Builders Council since the early 1980’s.
Robert Weeks receives his Hall of Fame Recognition Award from Tom Coates of Coates Construction.
Robert Weeks
Robert Weeks of Robert R. Weeks Construction Company has been a custom homebuilder in St. Augustine for 35 years.
“I build mostly custom homes in St. Johns County,” said Weeks.
He is the general contractor and subcontracts all of his work out.
“I came to Jacksonville in 1969,” said Weeks. “My wife and I took a trip to Cape Canaveral and on the way back decided to take the scenic route on Florida A1A.”
On the way back, he saw a for sale sign for lots on the beach in Vilano Beach near where Caps on the Water Restaurant is located today.
“I asked my wife how’d she like to live on the beach and she said she’d like it, so I went back and bought a lot that same day,” said Weeks.
He still had a business as a plumbing contractor in Jacksonville so he began his commute to start building the house.
“We decided to move to St. Augustine because we were tired of driving back and forth,” he said.
He retired from his plumbing business and decided to become a custom homebuilder.
“I didn’t like dealing with builders, so I became one, instead,” he joked.
Weeks explained his first experience with getting a building permit. It was laughable compared to the red tape builders have to jump through today to get something built.
“Back then you didn’t have to take a test to become a general contractor,” he said. “I just paid $25 and I was a general contractor. I called the courthouse to find out where to get a permit to build. They told me to go see the building inspector.”
He found the man who would give him a permit and showed him his plans.
“He said, ‘OK, go ahead and get started’,” said Weeks. “I asked at what point did he want to inspect it and he said don’t worry, I’ll check on you.”
Weeks said one day after the house was all framed up, the inspector stopped by with his permit. After paying him $25, he was all set.
“He never got out of his car,” he said. “I never saw him again except when he would pass and wave.”
He said it cost him $25,000 to build his first house and the oceanfront lot was only $6,000.
Weeks, then proceeded to start buying lots and building spec homes in the area and his business was born. Thirty-five years later, he’s still going strong.
Weeks was the last president of the St. Johns County Contractors Association, which is no longer in existence.
“This association was abandoned when the Northeast Florida Builders Association formed the St. Johns Builders Council and most of the members joined the council,” he said.
Weeks was the chair of the St. Johns Builders Council in 1986 and in 1992.
He has won several awards over the years including, NEFBA Council Chairman of the Year in 1992 and Builder of the Year in 1985 and 1988.