Springfield Preservation and Revitalization (SPAR) has acquired the historic Drew Mansion at 245 West 3rd Street with plans to bring the derelict building back to life.
SPAR announced this acquisition on Dec. 8, joined by City Councilmembers Jimmy Peluso and Chris Miller as well as other city and community stakeholders. SPAR also announced the launch of its Drew Rehabilitation Fund to support this approximately $1.5 million project.
SPAR Executive Director Michael Haskins said the nonprofit is uniquely positioned to take on this rehabilitation project and to resurrect the neglected building, which has become a source of blight and crime in the community.
“[Drew Mansion] coming into SPAR’s hands does two things: One, as a nonprofit, we’re able to access grant funding to help rehabilitate it, which is money that for-profit companies wouldn’t be able to access,” Haskins said. “….The second thing is that that property is a landmark in the neighborhood, and one of the gateway entrances to Springfield, and so turning it from a source of blight and an example of demolition by neglect into a functioning, productive community space is going to be a huge asset for the community.”
SPAR plans to transform the building’s first floor into a “community living room” with a bistro or café and archive, giving the public access to the historic building and transforming it into a gathering spot for residents to enjoy. The second and third floors will house office spaces that will serve as a small-business incubator.
“A small business incubator is going to provide low-rent office space to business owners who are interested in investing in the neighborhood and want to try out their business model to ensure that it’s going to work before they sign a longer-term lease on commercial corridors like Main Street, Eighth Street,” Haskins said.
The Karpeles Grand, another one of Springfield’s historic buildings, recently underwent its own renovation, reopening last year as an event space that hosted the second annual Bold City Ball. Haskins said he hopes the rehabilitations for these two historic buildings show paths forward for structures still in need of restoration.
“As Springfield has been revitalized, property owners have rehabilitated the easiest properties first and the harder cases are what’s left,” Haskins said. “So, showing paths forward for some of these more difficult cases is really important to continue that investment and to complete the revitalization of Springfield.”
A rendering depicts what the Drew Mansion could look like following its rehabilitation.
The Drew Mansion had been included on the Jacksonville History Center’s list of endangered historic buildings for several years, running the risk of demolition by neglect. JHC CEO Dr. Alan Bliss applauded SPAR’s efforts to preserve the building and remove it from the endangered buildings list.
“This marks a breakthrough in efforts to rescue that distressed historic building from decline, and we stand in solidarity with SPAR and the City of Jacksonville in finding the resources that will be necessary to move ahead,” Bliss wrote in an e-mail. “We also strongly encourage and support SPAR’s innovative approach to this preservation challenge. If successful, other historic properties may become candidates for similarly creative interventions in which a nonprofit stakeholder like SPAR takes an ownership position.”
Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission Member and former Demolition By Neglect Task Force Chair William Hoff said he hopes SPAR’s acquisition and proposed rehabilitation of the Drew Mansion serve as an example for other at-risk historic properties.
“Getting it in the hands of an organization that is willing and able to preserve it, at least, and hopefully renovate it, it’s a great example of what is possible, not just for this particular property, but for other properties,” Hoff said. “That’s what I would hope to see, personally, is that this be used as a road map of how to get our significant historic properties out of danger from demolition by neglect and into the hands of an entity that will appropriately care for them.”
Haskins noted that SPAR has already been working with several community and city partners, including the Mayor’s Office, during the acquisition process, with local businesses Atlantic Engineering Services, Avant Construction Group and JAA Architecture offering pro bono services to evaluate the building in order to ensure the project’s viability.
SPAR will be seeking grant funding for this project at the city, state and national levels and is seeking donors to fulfill grant-matching requirements. More information is available at sparcouncil.org/drew_fund.