 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Museum of beaches forced to shut down
By AMY WIMMER, Times Staff Writer
ST. PETE BEACH -- Time and abrasive beach weather have taken their toll on the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum, weakening the foundation and forcing the county to close the building to the public. County officials were inspecting the museum two weeks ago when they discovered structural problems dangerous enough to warrant the closing. "It's an old building, is what it amounts to," said Rudy Garcia, engineer for the Pinellas County Public Works Department. "We were asked to look at the cracks in the building and come up with a budget estimate to repair them. When we started looking, we discovered some of the building's foundation is suspicious. We felt it was in the best interest of the public to not have them walking around in a building that could become unstable." The closing forced volunteers to scale down events scheduled for this weekend to celebrate the museum's 10th anniversary. A dinner honoring volunteers took place as planned, said Sally Yoder, collections coordinator at the museum, but a public celebration has been postponed until the building is repaired. "It was a little traumatic when they called and said, 'Close it ASAP,"' Yoder said. "But we're very, very grateful that the county caught this, although it hit us a little hard. The season's here, and the gift shop isn't open. We're also missing the public." No estimates are yet available on when the museum will reopen or how much the renovations will cost, said Jan Luth, director of Pinellas County's Heritage Village. The museum is a satellite facility of the village. A structural engineer who specializes in historic preservation inspected the building Friday and will soon provide the county with details about the repairs needed. "Obviously we're going to do everything in our power to open it up again as soon as possible," Luth said. "But we want to understand the work that has to be done." The Gulf Beaches Historical Museum, located in the Pass-a-Grille neighborhood of St. Pete Beach at 115 10th Ave., was awarded the National Association of Counties Acts of Caring Award for 2003. The 40 volunteers at the museum documented 43,913 volunteer hours for 2002 alone, said Maggie Hall, a Pinellas County spokeswoman. "Beach history is not very well documented," Hall said. "These people are trying to keep it alive." The museum is the building's third incarnation. It was built as a church in 1917, converted into a home in 1959 and opened as a museum in 1993. Joan Haley, a Pass-a-Grille resident and former society writer for the Washington Star, left the building to the county in her will. The museum endured about $20,000 in renovations last year, including a new roof, termite treatments and structural work on an addition that was added while it was still a church. Now the original portion of the church needs help. "We could tell that it needed work," said Luth, the Heritage Village director. "It was when they went down to assess it that they found it needs a little more than some work."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times South Pinellas desks | ||||||||||||||||||||||
