Sebastian Inland Harbor

Once a polluted site, the 14 acres of land on the San Sebastian River in downtown St. Augustine are slated to become a haven for public art. If all goes as planned, the St. Augustine Sculpture Garden -- after nearly a decade -- will finally become a reality.
The riverfront land, recently sold by the city of St. Augustine to San Sebastian Harbor Partners for $3.6 million, will soon be home to a mixed-use development, Sebastian Inland Harbor, which will include restaurants, residences and parking. It will also include space for an open-air collection of large-scale sculptures. Works, several of which are already complete, will focus on St. Augustine history, including the original Native American residents, the influence of the Spanish and the important of the city’s coastal location.
The Sculpture Garden will break with the city's old-world feel and tame the sensibilities of other public art displays. "Public art projects have already created controversy, no matter what you put [in them]," says St. Augustine sculpture Thomas Glover W., director oft eh non-profit St. Augustine Sculpture Garden, Inc. But the group of master sculptures and patrons, which will be responsible for creating and nurturing the Garden's collection, won't be cowed by controversy. Typically, Glover W. says, sculpture garden suffer from "the sterilization of art, because the committee overseeing public artwork installations are sensitive to public opinion, public controversy and public outcry. This sculpture garden is different, showing sophistication, imagination. Some are a little daring -- nothing we feel inappropriate -- and extremely well crafter. It breaks away from the safe route."
Though San Sebastian Harbor Partners has yet to break ground on the development, they pledge to follow through with the garden. “The sculptures aren't necessarily suitable next to a monument of say, Henry Flagler, because they're more modern," said Matthew Merritt, a partner with San Sebastian Harbor Partners. "But it's something everyone would like to see. This location is very well-suited to these sculptures."
Current development plans for the property, which runs from the river to King Street behind the San Sebastian Winery, include a hotel, condos, retail space, marina and parking garage. At the city's request, the developer is making public access a priority. Besides the sculpture garden, there will be an outdoor amphitheatre and a river-walk.
"This is the first time the city has ever had a contract for sale of the property," says Tim Burchfield, chief administrative officer with the city of St. Augustine. "We've never been this far before." That's partly because the site was once heavily contaminated. A former coal gasification plant was there between 1885 and the late 1950s, and the property was polluted with coal tar, a byproduct created when coal is burned into gas. A former owner of the site, Atlanta Gas Light Company, paid 90 percent of the cleanup cost, while the city picked up the rest of the tab.
"The residue, over time, saturated the ground, and that had to be removed," says Burchfield. "This is actually the first site, at least in Northeast Florida, that has been cleaned up, and the EPA is proud of how fast we got his cleaned up." According to a March 2002 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report to the project, "The progression from a cleanup decision to construction completion in just a year and half is truly remarkable when compared to other Superfund cleanup efforts of this magnitude."
The garden will feature more than a dozen large-scale works, close to life-size or larger, with some reaching eight feet tall. Once placed on their bases, some artwork will tower 14 feet above visitors.
The works include the "All Nations Totem" crated by Harold Lock and Thomas Glover W., "Untitled" in sandstone by Enzo Torcoletti, "Call for World Peace" in soapstone by Patricia Barthel, "Flowering" in marble by Alvin Felch and "Españolas" in concrete and steel by Marianne Lerbs. The artists have donated their time to the project.
"These artists gave these works to the city of St. Augustine to be viewed by the public," says former mayor Len Weeks. “And having public access to the waterfront with the boardwalk is good for the citizens and tourists."
Designing the bases and installing the garden is expected to take up tot two years. It should be worth the wait.

Members of the San Sebastian project review committee said Monday that they are about 60 days away from submitting design plans to the St. Augustine City Commission.

The project includes condominiums, a hotel, shops and a marina along the San Sebastian River.

Matt Merritt, of San Sebastian Harbor Partners of Ponte Vedra Beach, said he hopes to show designs to the City Commission and the public in about a month.

"Sometime in late August we'd like to show the architect plans to the commission," Merritt said.

He said once the building permits are granted, he wants to finish the development in 14 to 20 months. He said there was talk of building it in two phases, but that has changed.

"We'd like to start (construction) in December or January," Merritt said. "We'd like to do it all in one phase."

The commission approved the Harbor Partners contract to buy the Sebastian Inland Harbor property for $3.6 million in late May.

The contract is for 13 vacant acres at King Street and San Sebastian River. Merritt's plan is to build 128 condominiums, with about 20,000 square feet of loft and retail space, a 110-150 room hotel, an 89-slip marina and river walk along San Sebastian.

Not included in the purchase price was 1.25 acres for a 518-car parking garage at Riberia and Lorida streets.

The San Sebastian Architectural Review committee met for the first time Monday afternoon.

Don Crichlow and Merritt are the only committee members, but Crichlow said they met Monday to determine the third member.

"We chose Les Thomas and he accepted our nomination," Crichlow said.

Crichlow, who is a city commissioner, said he and Merritt needed someone who is independent from them to help make decisions.

"Les and I are both architects and he knows St. Augustine well," Crichlow said.

Thomas was unavailable for comment.

Mayor George Gardner said he is pleased to see the San Sebastian plans are on track.

"I'm just thrilled that we're moving along at such a good pace with such good public input," Gardner said. "The target date is still January for construction."

Jan Miller, owner of Butterfield Garage Art Gallery on King Street attended the meeting to see how the new development will affect shops, such as hers, surrounding it.

"We thought we'd be swallowed up by this project," Miller said. "I didn't want to get lost in the shuffle."

Crichlow asked Miller to help bring together property owners in the area and have them come up with a master plan of what they would like to see happen.

Merritt said he hopes to see the shops facing the back of Lorida Street turn around so they open up on the street. He wants to have a walking outdoor mall with shops and cafes.

Crichlow said the development will be unique and not match some of the older buildings downtown.

"We're not trying to make a historic village. It will have some elements of the buildings, but it will be different," Crichlow said. "We're not trying to recreate a particular architectural style."