Titusville CRA weighs structural monitoring with NASA/FAA as launches ramp up

Members of the Titusville CRA and residents spent part of the Jan. 13 meeting discussing efforts to monitor historic structures for possible impacts from heavy launch activity. A public commenter urged that the historic preservation board be officially included in monitoring efforts and noted local interest in recognizing mid‑century modern architecture tied to the space industry.

City staff said the city has been on calls with NASA, SpaceX and Kennedy Space Center partners and that Titusville successfully sought monitoring for two nominated structures — Saint Gabriel's and the Pritchard House — as part of the Section 106 historic‑preservation process. "We were the ones that requested those two… We had four, and then it went down to two," staff said, noting the cities in the region were allotted a limited number of monitored sites.

Board members raised concerns about the potential for launch‑related damage, especially during vehicle return and associated sonic booms, and asked whether any mechanism exists to help building owners recover costs. A city representative said the agreement with NASA and the FAA focuses on monitoring and determining whether effects exist and whether monitoring should be expanded; "there is really little recourse… about how, if there's damage found," staff said, describing the effort as data‑gathering and recommendation making rather than a compensation mechanism.

The CRA asked staff to keep the board informed as monitoring results come in. The discussion did not produce a new ordinance, funding approval or a formal claims process for property owners; staff said monitoring results will determine whether additional action is warranted.