Knights of Columbus building razed
PETER GUINTA
Assignment Editor
Published Thursday, June 03, 2004
click photo to enlarge
Fitzgerald Excavating workers dismantle the Davis Shores Knight of Columbus building on Wednesday,
June 02, 2004.
By PETER WILLOTT, Staff Bulldozers finished tearing down the former Knights of Columbus Hall at 121
Arredondo Ave. Wednesday morning, demolishing a building that some St. Augustine residents said was a
connection to their colorful past.
Local preservationists considered the site vulnerable -- even adding it to a list of the city's 11 most
endangered historic places -- but officials said the building was not really historic.
Mark Knight, director of planning and building, said the Historic Architectural Review Board had voted in
February to allow the owners a demolition permit.
"There wasn't much left of the original building. It was gone," Knight said.
The only original parts of the building that remained were two doors in the kitchen and some bricks in the
chimney, HARB found. In addition, the structure was not listed on the National Register of Historic
Buildings.
click photo to enlarge
Davis Shores Knight of Columbus building
By PETER WILLOTT, Staff
The building was one of the first permanent structures built in Davis Shores. Designed by architects Marsh
and Saxelbye, it was built by developer D.P. Davis in 1925 and served as a real estate office for property
sales in Davis Shores.
But Davis died under mysterious circumstances in 1926.
According to Bruce Dufresne, former chairman of the city's Planning and Zoning Board and former
president of the Knights of Columbus, the Davis estate of 9,000 lots stretching from the Bridge of Lions
almost to State Road 312 was sold for $160,000 to Thompson Ryman Realty in 1934.
The realty turned around and sold the building to the Knights of Columbus Council 611 for $5,500 the
following year, Dufresne said.
For years, the Knights held bingo games there to raise money for their mortgage and many charitable
causes.
click photo to enlarge
This is the Davis Shores Administration Building, later Knights of Columbus Hall, in 1926. It was the first
building constructed in Davis Shores, in 1925 and was designed by the famous architects Marsh and
Salerbye.
Courtesy of David Noland.
Dufresne said the building had originally been built in a marsh on pilings, and all of Davis Shores had been
bulkheaded and filled.
Eventually, the wood pilings and floors rotted and in 1990 a new concrete floor was poured, requiring a
mortgage on the building.
Bingo soon ended as other venues offered larger jackpots, and the Knights were stuck with mortgage
payments as well as electricity and water bills.
"We had to borrow $30,000 to stay afloat. We were desperate and voted to sell the building," he said.
A local developer offered them $275,000 -- contingent on a zoning change -- and the Knights agreed, but
the Zoning Board turned them down, 6-1.
"We were sitting on the place without revenue," Dufresne said. "We started to get a little panicked."
He said that David Ponce, of the Conch House, then rented the building several times for overflow events.
He asked for and was granted an option to buy it for $300,000. Three years later, he exercised that option
for $350,000.
But by that time, the land values had skyrocketed, Dufresne said.
"In retrospect, should we have watched that a little closer? Yes," he said. "but we were locked into an
agreement. We honored it. It just happened."
The building was sold to Ponce on Dec. 1, 2003, for $375,000.
After the sale, Ponce said, "I'm not quite sure what we are going to do with it yet. But those six lots would
make six nice private homes. It looks like the best use of that land is for home sites."
In February, he resold the property to Empire Development Group of Ponte Vedra Beach for $675,000.
Michael Johnigean, of Empire, then sought and obtained the demolition permit, promising to place a
commemorative plaque on the site. Demolition began Monday and was completed by Wednesday.
"It went quickly. There wasn't much there," Johnigean said. "The building's down now."
He said four of the six residential lots have been sold for $169,000 each.
"I have two left, and will give discounts to people who can close quickly. But they need to move quickly,"
he said. "In Davis Shores, people are buying homes for $250,000 and $300,000 and tearing them down to
build bigger homes."
Johnigean said some St. Augustine history will be preserved after all.
"In the attic, we found a lot of old photographs," he said.