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Sunday, May 18, 2003
Historic Florida's treasures
News-Journal Editorial | Al Hadeed
Our state is such an incredibly beautiful, culturally rich place. We are steeped in history. Paleo-Indians inhabited Florida, some believe, as long ago as 14,000 years. When the Spanish landed in Florida in the 1500s and met the Timucua peoples who inhabited northeast Florida, it was not really the discovery of the "new world," as some text books might say. It was, instead, the meeting of two worlds, worlds with vastly different cultures and experiences. Florida was changed forever.
Replicating history |
The Spanish ultimately held Florida for more than two centuries, a period longer than the time Florida has been a part of the United States. Often called the ancient city, St. Augustine is our nation's oldest continuously occupied city. We are one of America's most ancient states, too, with now more than four centuries of historic settlement built upon the archaeological remains of thousands of years of prehistoric habitation.
Florida has been a national leader in preserving our unique and varied historical resources. Some visionaries within the state pioneered our efforts from the beginning in about the 1960s. And then more pioneers joined them and thankfully most are still at it.
Leaders at the local level added to the passion by spurring widespread grassroots support for the state's active role in historic preservation.
This emphasis on leadership in preservation yielded the best staff at Florida's Division of Historical Resources. This state staff also is complemented by an exemplary professional community that contributes to the quality of preservation efforts in Florida. In sum, we have been fortunate to attract among the best and the brightest in this field.
In modern times, Florida has provided more resources for historic preservation efforts than any other state in the nation. In addition to what the Division of Historical Resources does, our state park system acts as the steward for 46 sites that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Our state park system also hosts numerous historical programs and celebrations that add much to the enjoyment of our heritage. The annual Florida Folk Arts Festival at White Springs, for example, is the oldest continuous folk arts festival in the United States.
An up and coming state partner that may surprise some is the Florida Department of Transportation. The agency has come a long away in its appreciation of how its work impacts historical resources and historic communities. This is a significant transformation and we hope it will continue with strong leadership from the top.
Our local historic preservation initiatives are healthy too. More than 50 of our cities and counties have attained the status of certified local governments, meeting federal and state standards for high quality historic preservation programs. In our area that includes the cities of DeLand and New Smyrna Beach.
More than 75 cities participate in the state's Main Street Program, including Daytona Beach, DeLand, New Smyrna Beach and Ormond Beach. We have more than 180 historical museums around the state, including one of our newest at Flagler Beach.
We have a welcome diversity in how we celebrate our heritage. Who can resist the charm of our state capital with all of its restored homes and businesses lodged in historic structures, and with the Old Capitol building gracing the highest offices of the state?
What about the real fort at the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine? No need for a replica there. Kissimmee's cowboy heritage is real, stemming from the early days of cattle ranching in Florida. No offense Texas, but we were raising cracker cattle in Florida with our swamp-hardened cow hunters on cracker ponies long before the West got into the business.
The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings House in Cross Creek is another cultural wonder of a far different type. The treasures of Key West, our southernmost city, provide yet another dimension to our historic resources.
The restoration of the Duck Pond area of Gainesville is a whole neighborhood revitalized, as many other similar neighborhoods have enjoyed around the state and, we hope, will continue to enjoy long into the future.
Even industrial buildings have not escaped their place in historic preservation. Tampa's Ybor City has preserved and adapted seemingly obsolete structures into a "must visit" retail and entertainment district. Delray Beach and Fort Pierce have done amazing things with their downtown revitalizations. The Art Deco District of Miami Beach is another type of splendor to behold. And the list does go on and on.
We have valued historic preservation for many reasons. We cherish it because it provides a sense of place and gives us our cultural identity. It provides tranquility in the midst of galloping growth and change. It graces us with the whimsy of the past. It piques our curiosity and we learn from it. It provides economic value and enriches our neighborhoods, downtowns and campuses. It ultimately gives us an enduring, living beauty and character that is singular. There is indeed no other place like Florida.
But at the same time we are now facing serious challenges to our historical and cultural character. Present market forces are channeling ever more money into real estate and development that will outstrip our ability to save or restore many special places. Compounding the effects of this growth pressure, our need to act quickly comes at a time when the state is at its lowest capacity to help. Budget battles may leave histor ic preservation priorities unfunded for the first time in memory. Moreover, there is some uncertainty about the future of the state structure that will provide historic preservation services because of pending agency reorganization.
Local government budgets are also stressed and aid at the local level may diminish, especially without support from their usual partner, the state. Comprehensive planning is suffering, too, for a variety of reasons. Smart growth strategies that emphasize historic resource planning may not be as prominent on local government agendas as we might hope in the preservation community.
We do not know the full effect of the state's budgetary problems on local programs or the effects of the diminishing emphasis on growth management. But we do know one thing without doubt. Historic preservation investments pay big dividends to our state. The general public, private enterprise and our state and local governments are all beneficiaries.
The Division of Historical Resources under the Florida Secretary of State commissioned a comprehensive study of the direct economic impacts of histor ic preservation activity. The study was conducted jointly by the Center for Governmental Responsibility of the University of Florida Law School and by the Center for Urban Policy Research of Rutgers State University.
Published in September 2002, the study concludes that more than 123,000 jobs were generated in Florida from preservation activities in the year 2000. As well, more than $657 million in state and local taxes were generated from preservation-related expenditures during 2000. Additionally, tourists who visited historic sites spent more than $3.7 billion in Florida in the same year.
The state's tourism arm, Visit Florida, reports recently that 60 percent of tourists participate in some history-based activity while vacationing in Florida. We can attribute this to a number of factors, including the ambiance of such sites and the increasingly interactive tastes of tourists that want more intellectually and culturally based activities in more natural or authentic settings. Yes, they are looking for the "real" Florida.
In no small measure, such tourist interest is attributable to the quality of the experiences that our historical venues provide. It is a credit to the quality of the state's program and to all of the folks who work at historic sites, parks and museums.
So now, we are at perhaps an unexpected crossroads with the budget problems at the state level and the corresponding problems at the local governmental level. Here is the ultimate question. Even at our most dire economic moment as a society, should we sacrifice our heritage and our culture? Our past is such an integral part of our future. It is essential to our well being. Our historical resources should never be neglected. Otherwise, we truly lose ourselves. Let us hope that present and future government leaders make history by recognizing the tremendous tangible and intrinsic value of a strong preservation program for Florida.
Hadeed is a member of the Executive Committee of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and also serves as General Counsel of the A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Highway, one of Florida's three National Scenic Byways, among other positions. The opinions expressed are the personal views of the author and not of any organization.
Hadeed is a public policy lawyer active in historic preservation.
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