March 9, 2008

Charlotte County Historic Courthouse Restored

The original 1928 courthouse of Charlotte County, Florida -- at Punta Gorda -- was reopened for public use last Friday after prolonged repairs of damage by Hurricane Charley in 2004.

Your writer is pleased to have been part of the drive in 2001 to save the historic structure after a new and larger courthouse was built.

A gaggle of modernists against "ugly" and "old" had beat their drums for a parking lot -- or a nice, office building.

Common sense and tradition prevailed, but it was an uphill battle.

Consider my Charlotte Sun-Herald editorial summation at the time:

November 18, 2001

Why Our Old Courthouse Is A Valuable Heritage Center

Much as I hate to contradict a fellow columnist, my experience in historic preservation spurs me to disagree strongly with his assertion that restoration of the old Punta Gorda Courthouse is “misguided.”

Obviously he flunked History 101 in high school and now has Freudian blockage regarding anything that occurred prior to his own birth.

When I arrived 19 years ago to my new home in Punta Gorda, the city was – well – shabby. Empty storefronts. Peeling paint. Less than spiffy residences in the old neighborhoods.

A Punta Gorda Isles committee asked me to write publicity for a drive to secede from Punta Gorda and form a separate town. I said “no” because I had participated elsewhere in two successful drives to revitalize old towns.

Key to all those projects was emphasis on history – human roots.

Then, as now, there was a lack of community identity everywhere. Mobilization of society has scattered families. There is not enough attachment to people, time or place. President Jimmy Carter called it a “national malaise.”

I was appalled that there was an attempt to worsen the situation in Punta Gorda by further division. I talked to Councilwoman Phyllis Smith, an Isles resident, who proposed the city put money into improving the core district. City planner Bob Johns had some good ideas. I joined them.

An historical theme was an obvious asset with which to begin. The vision attracted civic leaders. Council was petitioned for restoration funds. Certain city officials objected that history was “wasted money.” Nevertheless, a majority of council bit the bullet and appropriated $100,000 for a two-block city-center beautification trial.

“Misguided,” grumbled many citizens.

The Punta Gorda Revitalization Committee -- reinforced by a Historic Preservation Board -- was organized. Five historic structures were nominated and accepted for the National Register of Historic Places. The oldest neighborhood was accepted in toto for the rare National Register of Historic Districts. Citizens collected old newspapers for money to replace the town clock transferred to a Wauchulla bank years ago.

Businesses and homeowners began to restore century- old structures. New homes often were built in “old Florida” style at extra expense.

Now the city has been nationally recognized as the best small town in the nation. Former nay sayers in Punta Gorda Isles boast about “their” town.

If the Punta Gorda experience was misguided, the whole county could profitably use a large dose of the same. History is of great, economic benefit. It pays handsome dividends.

All that being said, the greater benefit is cultural.

We go to great effort and expense to preserve our historical heritage --the Bible, fine art, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn,” Statue of Liberty, Civil War battlefields, Williamsburg, Old Ironsides, St. Augustine old town, Rosa Park’s city bus, museums, steam locomotives, Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, Monticello.

These link us to the past – expressions of who we were, are and expect to be.

Equally important are local structures and localities that remind us of our cultural heritage. Indian mounds, first churches, railroad depot, the dock where ranchers loaded cattle for runs through the Civil War blockade, stilted fish camps, Trabue’s land office, Sheriff Freeman’s Victorian-style home, Governor Gilchrist’s grave, a cigar-maker’s cottage, Mrs. McAdow’s banyan tree, Fred Babcock’s native-Indian tree- sculpture, the old ElJobean post office, Bass Marine Laboratory, Boca Grande lighthouse, Bernice Russell Museum of Black History, Pioneer Trail, Charlotte Harbor Town oaks where DeSoto landed.

And, yes, the county’s first courthouse where laws were made and justice rendered.

And, yes, a smidgen of tax revenues will have to be invested to operate a Charlotte County Heritage Center – as are all the many other restored courthouses in Florida. The cultural paybacks are greater than tax-paid baseball stadiums, golf courses, tennis courts, and boat ramps.

Finally, critics should give up on the “sick building” canard. The old courthouse suffered when misguided administrators sealed the windows, installed air conditioning and crammed too many people breathing on each other in too little space.

There is good reason why so many other Florida counties have kept their old courthouses in service. Ours would accommodate the Adventure Museum, an historic study center archives, the genealogy library and a meeting room for volunteer organizations.

Historian George Santayna gave us fair warning in 1950: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

By Lindsey Wilger Williams, retired newspaper publisher and syndicated columnist