HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-09-14 The beautiful sandcastle will be washed away forever when the Winter Club is torn down (WeekDay)WEEKDAY
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By Steve Uman
The workshop session following the
regular meeting of the NPB Village
Council on Sept. 8thheld the promise
of being quite dynamic. And it
>11* was.Most of the seats in the hall were
filled; and reporters from all the local
newspapers were there in addition to
41.
camera crews from. Channel 5 and
Channel 12. The main subject to be
discussed was the awarding of the
contract bid for the demolition of the
V\ inter Club.
Vice -Mayor Marks, who ran the
meeting ill Mayor Valente's absence,
Q
t' said he would only allow 15 minutes
for discussion about the building.
Then he said he would only give each
person 3 minutes to speak. Despite
L•av grunts and groans of dissatisfication
from the audience, the discussion
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Mrs. Donald Smith said that she
does not agree that it is a consensus of
the Village residentsthat the building
be torn down. She represents a large
group of concerned citizens. and to
tear down NPB's only old, historic
building would indeed be a crime.
Young Eric James received a loud
ovation following his comments. He
represented the younger generation,
and he presented a petition that he
had prepared and had signed by a
very substantial number of residents
and businesses. He added that at the
last meeting most of the people
present wanted the building torn
down, but many of the people who
wanted to save the building were
away on vacation.
Cathy Hecht came forth with an
emotional and powerful plea for more
time- more time for the residents to_
get together and hopefully come up
with the necessary money to fix up the
Winter Club. She said she would not
bring her students to this meeting to
see a so-called "democratic" form of
government. She attacked the Council
and particularly Marks for saying hat
the audience is a "stacked deck at
previous meetings she could as well
have said that it was a "stacked
deck" in reverse. She too received a
good round of applause from the
audience.
. Patricia Martin is not a NPB
resident, but a resident of Lake Park.
She felt she had a right to speak
because the whole area was once
called Kelsey City and. Kelsey built
the original Winter Club. She made
one particular comment that the
audience enjoyed, `If you were a
woman as neglected as the Winter
Club, you would look a little under the
weather also." She too tore into the
Council, saying that if Mundt and
Marks had their way, even buildings
like Monticello in Virginia would be
knocked down also. "If we can
preserve something of what we have,
we will be doing something that will
be remembered,..." She was
obviously emotionally involved in the
attempt to be heard and listened to by
a seemingly deaf Council, and by the
end of her talk it sounded -like her
voice was ready to crack.
Charles Cowan claimed that is is
not that he is an old man that wants to
save an old building Rather, the whole
idea came from his son. His son had
attended art classes in the building
many many years ago, and there is
strong sentimental value attached to
saving the building. "If your T.V. is
no good, do you pay $5 to have it
blown up? Or do you pay $35 to have
someone come and fix it?" He was
one of the original bondholders, and
he therefore ought to have the right to
vote for the restoration of the building
in a general election. •
Councilman Moore reitereated
what he has said before: When a
beautiful sandcastle is built on the
shore and the water than conies in, it
is washed away forever." He said that
the $700,000 estimated figure is to put
the building to use for the entire
village. And he reminded everyone
that the building itself is not
condemned; it is just that the old
electrical wiring is inadequate.
Moore questioned why all of a
sudden the building has to come
I down. And the Council won't give him
an answer to this question.
Obviously only two years ago they
didn't want it to come down because
they paid $47, 700 for the new roof to
be put on So why now is it so
important that the building be razed?
Moore also gave credit to the young
boy who spoke (Eric James). It is
important to leave something for the
younger generation so they will know
what Florida used to look like. He
likened the situation to a few years
ago when a developer wanted to
develop Air Force Beach, The Council
wouldn't let him do it, and part of the
reason was so future residents would
be able to know the old Florida. s.
Marks tried to wrap up the
discussion, saying that the former
rpeetings on the Winter Club were
w ell publicized.
Moore continued on. He admitted
that the original engineering report
did recommend tearing the building
down. However, the Council report
told the people that the building was
to be preserved and used for
recreation. That is what the council
told the people in 1961, and why
should that be reversed now. all of a
sudden.
Someone from the audience said
that there is supposed to be a movie
made about Harry Oake's life. And
NPBsure will look pretty silly if they
tear down the house he used to live in.
Margaret Turney ended the
discussion with the perfect comment.
\A hat she said was short, to the point.
and cause a rousing found of applause.
'This is the first time this community
has come together to work on a
project. Why don't you let them do
it The vote to award the demolition
bid was put on the regular agenda for
the October 13th meeting. Moore
didn't like it- they plan to save the two
large banvon trees, but the seagrapes
and malaleuca trees are to be
destroyed. Pointing to Marks, Moore
said, "Even you wanted to save the
trees at one time.'
In additional Council action, the bid
award to supply the fill dirt was also
put off until October 13th. Discussion
concerning the proposed PBA
contract will continue at the regular
meeting on Sept. 22,