On Wednesday, January 25, 2017 St. Petersburg Preservation (SPP) treated its members and interested citizens to another great lecture in its Keep St. Pete Special series sponsored by Estelia Mesimer, PA RE/MAX Metro.

Titled “A Primer on How to Research Your Home’s History” and held at the St. Petersburg Museum of History, over 150 registered attendees intently listened to the program’s three presenters, Laura Duvekot, City of St. Petersburg Preservation Planner, Marta Jones, St. Petersburg Museum of History Archivist & Collections Manager; and Lucy Jones, Senior Project Architectural Historian at Cardno, as they methodically and meticulously outlined the steps and resources necessary to research a historic home.

As each panelist delved into her own specialty in historic preservation, their common message to the audience was to know your goals – how much time are you willing to invest in research, what is it you really want to know and how much are you willing to spend to fund your research.

An important area of concern for SPP is the current redevelopment boom that is taking away from the core of what they believe makes St. Pete “special”.

According to City Council member and preservationist Jeff Danner, “When we are in a boom like we are now, we lose more of our historic properties. People are more likely to tear something down and build something new and bigger.” And, Peter Belmont, SPP Vice President, was recently quoted as saying the city doesn’t seem “to have a plan for what is important to keep, to make sure we maintain our character.”

If you are interested in knowing more about St. Petersburg Preservation, visit their website at www.stpetepreservation.org or call Executive Director Allison Stribling at 727.824.7802.

Related Reading:
Preservation Group Fights to Protect Historic Properties, Tampa Bay Times (1.29.2017)
Hidden History of St. Petersburg, by Will Michaels, Jon Wilson
Remembering St. Petersburg, by Andrew N. Edel
St. Petersburg and the Florida Dream, 1888-1950, by Raymond Arsenault