Latest news with #CulturalResourcesReviewBoard
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Yahoo
‘It's a part of Florida': County leaders set to decide the fate of historic Magic Beach Motel
County leaders at the Cultural Resources Review Board will lead a meeting deciding the fate of the Magic Beach Motel, a place that residents call a local piece of Vilano Beach history. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Built in 1951, the Magic Beach Motel -and its iconic flamingos- have stood the test of time in Vilano Beach for the local community. 'It's a part of Florida that brought all the tourism here to begin within the '50s and '60s', says John Mock, a resident of Vilano Beach. However, despite lasting this long, the property's new prospective owners are asking that the site be torn down, filing a demolition permit within St. Johns County. An excerpt from the Cultural Resource Management cites 'rising insurance and financing costs', as well as 'prone to flooding in extreme conditions such as hurricanes' as the main reason for the proposed plans. Some residents like Mike Milillo, a 40-year resident of Vilano Beach, say that while the Magic Beach Motel is historic, it shouldn't stand in the way of something new replacing it. However, many residents disagree. 'It would be horrible if they knock this down. This is just a piece of history here' says Laura Mock, resident of Vilano Beach. Residents like Mock are calling on like-minded neighbors to make their concerns known at tomorrow's meeting. 'I think everybody needs to take time to go and show up so that we can keep this beautiful piece of history right where it is,' says Mock The meeting is planned to start at 1:30 pm at the St. Johns County Building Department. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Yahoo
St. Augustine's Magic Beach Motel to be considered for demolition
St. Johns County officials will be meeting this month to discuss whether to allow the demolition of a motel in St. Augustine. The Magic Beach Motel was built in 1951, originally called the Blue Ocean Motel. In December of 2021, the Cultural Resources Review Board in St. Johns County officially designated the location as a 'Significant Cultural Resource.' The building was given the designation partly due to its architecture. It was built by an Italian immigrant, Cesidio Tuccella, in the Late Moderne style. The owners submitted an application in January to have it demolished. Now, the Cultural Resources Review Board will hold a meeting to discuss the idea and possible alternatives. It will be addressed at the meeting on Monday, April 14th at 1:30 P.M. 'In light of the significant cultural resource status of the Motel, staff requested an additional historic survey and mitigation alternatives to address the effect to the historic resource,' states meeting documents. An excerpt from the Cultural Resource Management Plan (CRMP), which will be discussed, provides the following justification for demolition: 'The factors driving demolition and not preservation or rehabilitation of the structure includes rising insurance and financing costs, increasing preferences for larger units with more amenities based on industry-wide standards and functionally obsolete designs and mechanical systems. Additionally, the plan states that the site of the existing buildings is generally low in elevation (Staff: roadway estimated at ~7-8 feet above sea level and structures ~10-feet above sea level) and prone to flooding in extreme conditions such as hurricanes.' It also provided the following statement on how the hotel could contribute to a potential historic district, if not demolished: 'The building is separated from the main concentration of older buildings at the west end of Vilano Road and is surrounded by seven non-historic buildings. In fact, the historic character of Vilano Road has been substantially diminished since first recorded in the Florida Master Site File in 2001 with the demolition of several buildings, the Lazy Sands Bar and Newt's Vilano Motel being examples, and new construction which is of a different scale and mass than the small-scale commercial buildings traditionally located there.' [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Two alternatives to complete demolition are provided, including relocating or raising the existing structure. The applicant, however, doesn't think it is feasible. The other is to demolish the building, while salvaging and repurposing certain elements to be used in whatever building replaces it, including its iconic flamingo plasterwork and the Magic Beach neon sign. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
