State funds Apalachicola Boat Works buy

Apalachicola has become the first Florida city to draw on a newly designated state grant program created to preserve working waterfronts.

On Dec. 29, the city partnered with the Florida Communities Trust (FCT) to purchase waterfront land for the Apalachicola Boat Works, representing the first property to be acquired through the Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts Florida Forever Grant Program.

FCT awarded $814,703 in Florida Forever funds to Apalachicola for this acquisition, with $800,000 going to property owner Charles D. Williamson, $6,633 in closing costs through Tarpon Title and the rest in other environmental assessment and related expenses.

The acquisition is intended to expand the Apalachicola Maritime Museum and establish an educational commercial seafood boat building and restoration facility in the community. City administrator Betty Webb said terms of the deal with the museum are now being discussed.

“That has not been finalized at this point. We’re working on a contract and hoping to have it in place by the end of February,” she said. “It’s going to become a part of the museum operation, basically utilized to teach and display boat repair and outboard motor repair.

“We’re trying to work with Franklin County Schools and Gulf Coast Community College to set up certification, to help teach what will keep the industry going,” she said.

Webb said the contract will likely include terms in which the museum will front the funds to renovate the building, which needs a new roof, although most of the rafters are in good shape; flooring repair, new restroom facilities, window replacement and dock repair in the back.

“The plan is to leave the exterior with the rusty tin,” said Webb. Originally built as a seafood warehouse in 1935, the site was an outboard repair shop, run by Junior Abercrombie, before it was shuttered several years ago.

“Traditional working waterfronts play an important role in the cultural and economic fabric of Florida’s coastal communities,” said Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham. “I congratulate the City of Apalachicola for receiving this grant to protect a piece of its heritage and provide a much-needed service to the community.”

The opening of this shop will provide commercial fishermen and seafood harvesters with access to repair facilities currently unavailable in the community, and train student workers in the craft of historic boat building and restoration.

“Being raised in the Panhandle commercial fishing industry it certainly is gratifying to see that Apalachicola is moving forward to ensure that working waterfronts are preserved for future generations. This grant program is just one of many examples of what a tireless advocate Representative Stan Mayfield was for our state,” said Representative Debbie Mayfield. “This was a priority for Stan and he put a lot of effort into making it a reality. The Apalachicola project, together with those in Sebastian and Brevard, will serve to keep the trade of the commercial fishing industry and the legacy of Florida's traditional working waterfronts alive and prosperous.”

The Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts Florida Forever Grant Program makes $7.5 million in Florida Forever funds available to local communities through a competitive grant application process. These grants are used to purchase land that facilitates commercial fishing or aquaculture, or that promotes and educates the public about the economic, cultural and historical heritage of Florida’s traditional working waterfronts.

Apalachicola Boat Works is one of three projects awarded funding during the Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts Program’s inaugural grant application cycle in 2008. The other two projects are the Sebastian Working Waterfronts Collaborative, and Blue Crab Cove in Brevard County.

In 2009 The Florida Forever program was not funded by the state legislature.

“Apalachicola is well known for its rich commercial fishing heritage and if we do not protect and preserve our maritime industry we will lose it forever,” said Representative Jimmy Patronis. “I am grateful the Department of Community Affairs recognized the community with a Stan Mayfield Working Waterfront grant, thereby ensuring future generations continue to preserve Apalachicola’s rich traditions.”

Florida Communities Trust serves as part of the Department of Community Affairs’ mission to help meet the needs of Floridians by investing in communities and working with them to plan and manage growth. For more information about Florida Communities Trust or the Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts Program, visit www.dca.state.fl.us