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St. Augustine Beach wins $750,000 National Park Service grant to upgrade Old City Hall
Summary
Mayor Beth Sweeney and Jeff Pototts said a 2021 National Register listing unlocked a $750,000 National Park Service grant to fund sewer connection, an elevator, HVAC work and four artist studios at the Old City Hall; a committee including tenants, a city commissioner, county members and the chamber will plan long-term use.
Mayor Beth Sweeney and Jeff Pototts, executive director of the St. John's County Cultural Council, said the council has secured a $750,000 grant from the National Park Service to fund infrastructure upgrades at the Old City Hall building in St. Augustine Beach.
The grant follows the building’s 2021 listing on the National Register of Historic Places, Pototts said. He described the funds as paying for work to move the building "off septic and onto sewer," install an elevator for accessibility, upgrade the HVAC systems and create four artist studios on the second floor.
Those studio spaces represent roughly a third of the planned second-floor restoration, Pototts said, and the council will begin fundraising to complete the remainder over the coming years. He said the cultural council has been involved with the project for more than 25 years and framed the effort as preserving a community gathering space for arts and culture.
Pototts also warned that redevelopment will increase insurance and maintenance costs beyond current levels. To address long-term sustainability and uses for the property, he said the council has formed a planning committee that includes representatives from the building’s tenant organizations, a city commissioner, county members and the chamber of commerce.
Mayor Sweeney thanked the cultural council for its stewardship and invited residents to share input with her office or with Pototts as the committee develops options for the site. The segment closed with the mayor’s sign-off and a note that updates will return on the next "Mondays with the Mayor" broadcast.
