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JANET ZINKThe County Commission hears that moving the home would far exceed $50,000. That's not doable, it decides.
BRANDON - For more than a year, Lisa Rodriguez has been going to county meetings and fighting to save the Galvin-Jaudon House.
This week she missed the meeting that might have mattered most. Sticker shock prompted the Hillsborough County Commission on Wednesday to abandon plans to relocate the Galvin-Jaudon House.
Rodriguez was flabbergasted.
"Last we knew they were taking the asbestos shingles off of it and they were going to move it to Davis Park," said Rodriguez, a member of the Brandon Historical Association, the group that has passionately worked to save the decrepit structure. "We thought once the County Commission made a decision that they'd stick to it."
In October, the commission budgeted $50,000 to move the historic home to Davis Park on Parsons Avenue from its current location at 201 Victoria St. But a detailed analysis commissioners received Wednesday revealed it would cost an additional $65,900 to move the structure.
So far, about $20,000 has been spent removing asbestos and consulting with an architect with expertise in moving old structures, county real estate director Mike Kelly told commissioners. He said it would take additional money to prepare the land at Davis Park, build a foundation and reattach building parts at the new location. Kelly also told commissioners it would cost another $300,000 to $400,000 to rehabilitate the home after the move. "I'm choking on the price," said Commissioner Ronda Storms, who in October asked the board to approve the money to move the home. "This was only supposed to be a $30,000 move. The price keeps going up."
Other than a few passionate preservationists, she said, the community doesn't seem to care about the house and hasn't raised any money to save it.
"I can't justify spending this kind of money," she said.
Other commissioners agreed and voted unanimously to bail on the project.
The decision put the future of the home back in the hands of First Baptist Church of Brandon, which wants to use the land for parking or a new building.
The Rev. Tommy Green of First Baptist Church said he has a contract with the county to have the house moved by April 1; if that's not done, they'll proceed with the "stipulations outlined in the contract," which allow the church to tear down the house.
Absent from Wednesday's meeting were Brandon preservationists who in the past have been vocal about saving the structure.
Had she known the commission was reconsidering funding the move, Rodriguez said she would have been there Wednesday to defend the expenditure.
The fate of the Galvin house has bounced around the county for 18 months.
The structure was built in the 1890s and once was at the center of the community. Through the years it served as a post office, grocery store and a private residence to Brandon's founding family.
The church bought the property in July 2002 with assurances from the county that the structure would not have landmark status. It gave county staff six months to come up with a plan to move the building before proceeding with demolition.
No good plans emerged, and when preservationists heard that the house, one of Brandon's oldest remaining buildings, might be destroyed, they urged the County Commission to step in and give it landmark status to keep it where it was built.
County officials refused to take action for fear of lawsuits.
First Baptist received approval Oct. 20 to tear the building down but agreed to wait 90 more days to give preservationists a chance to move the house.
No solution was offered, and on Jan. 15 the County Commission voted to spend $50,000 to move the structure.
Byron Dean, president of the Brandon Historical Association, said the group hasn't given up its fight.
"The county reneged on their commitment to spend $50,000 on moving the house," Dean said. "We don't want them to tear this thing down. It's unique and lovely inside."
- Janet Zink can be reached at 661-2441 or jzink@sptimes.com