Group adds 3 buildings to endangered list

An old school with a modern highway built a few hundred feet from its second floor.

A Gothic granite and limestone church once a place of refuge for civil rights protesters.

The remains of a jazz club built in 1895 where Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday once performed. 

Those are some of the 12 buildings the Jacksonville Historical Society listed on its 2019 most endangered buildings list released Friday. About 50 people attended the meeting at Old St. Andrews Church to learn about the buildings and their history.

Alan Bliss, JHS executive director, said the list, curated by the society's Historic Sites Committee, highlights buildings that are unique for their architecture, construction techniques, historical significance or for the people and events related to them. Some stand dilapidated, abandoned decades ago, while others have no viable economic plan for the future and could be demolished.

Since the 2017 list was released, three new buildings were added. The other nine have remained on the the list from previous years.

The new additions to the list include the Snyder Memorial Methodist Church, Genovar's Hall and the Ford Motor Company assembly plant on Wambolt Street.

The Snyder Memorial Methodist Church at the southwest corner of Laura and Monroe streets is one example from the list tied to a noteworthy event, Bliss said. The church was a place of refuge for victims who were attacked in the 1960s during one of Jacksonville's civil rights protests. People flocked to the church downtown that is now owned by the city. 

"It's a struggle to figure out what to do with that building and how to preserve it," Bliss said.

The Phi Beta Sigma fraternal organization attempted more than 10 years ago to restore the former jazz club, Genovar's Hall on 644 W. Ashley St. After spending hundreds of thousands of grant dollars, the property is still in disrepair.

Some other endangered buildings include the Universal Marion Building, currently the JEA headquarters, the Annie Lytle Public School near the I-95 and I-10 interchange and the Armory Building.

The private sector and public government are two ways to tackle preserving the buildings.

Bliss said restoring any one of these buildings would take more resources than expected for empty, damaged structures.

"The economic challenges of restoration really may eclipse their value in storytelling," he said. "Just take the most wildly liberal estimate that you could possibly come up with on what it's going to cost to do everything you want to do — and then double that."

The LaVilla Shotgun Houses south of Genovar's Hall are exemplary of buildings at risk because they are rapidly deteriorating beyond economic repair, Bliss said.

David Jamison, 48, a Westside resident and historian at Edwards Water College, said fundraising and hours of work are needed to possibly save any of the buildings.

By putting these buildings on the list, Jamison believes concerned residents can get involved with building owners to  reach out about repairs and restoration efforts and raise money through grants and sponsorships.

"When buildings are built, they are sort of a snapshot of what was happening at the time in the city," Jamison said, "and then things change, and you still have these big structures. The old buildings are really sort of a history of the city and a history of the priorities of the city."

Angela DiMichele: (904) 359-4697