I definitely get your point. We've successfully gone up against the lobbyist in the past on various initiatives. An effective way to fight is to make sure you understand the policies and work within that system by using it to your advantage. In the case of demolition of unprotected buildings, that's feeding staff the extra information they need prior to any development materializing on a specific piece of property. When you have the material to meet criteria, it becomes pretty easy to find the sponsor. It becomes more effective when you're tackling these random sites well before someone hired by a developer to lobby even enters the picture. We've got to get to them well before a rendering or new development proposal is announced to the public.
I think the overall goal would be to save as many unprotected buildings as possible. If a property owner is on board, it's pretty simple. You only need to meet 2 of 7 criteria. When we got Allen Chapel AME in Brooklyn landmarked last year, that was the case. It may be the case with the Whetstonian, since the owner has given us approval to pursue landmarking. Staff is aware but I need to sit down and help them do a bit of the upfront research homework since they don't have a lot of staff dedicated to preservation to begin with.
If the owner is in opposition, you'll need to meet 4 of 7. This is where the community support will come into play. FBC is a good example of this. The good thing is Curry's demolition spree has already built the community support for preservation and there are quite a few councilmembers concerned as well. For sites where the property owner objects, preservation staff and those council members will need an open and shut case, plus community support. Those will have to be tackled on a case-by-case basis.
Luckily, since the JEA Tower is a contributing structure, it can't be randomly razed without approval by the HPC, regardless of what the new board members (who don't have an architectural or structural engineering background) may think. The ignorance is shown by calling a $65 million renovation job demo level. That building is probably three times the size of the Laura Street Trio and that's a $90 million job. I believe the Barnett (much smaller) was close to $55-$60 million.
At this point, they are probably just as clueless of the JEA building being a contributing historic district structure as FBC was with the Sunday School building. No matter what, the public will have their chance to fight any potential demo with JEA a year or two from now. So, I think there's great opportunity to spend the next few months helping HPC staff and building community support for the JEA Tower by sharing it's history in a way that aligns with the 7 criteria needed for landmark designation. On the other hand, the unprotected buildings that don't have to go before HPC for demo are the ones we'll need to work a bit faster on.
