The buses may have left the Trailways Bus Station in Downtown Pensacola, but the building isn’t going anywhere.
The depot has been spared from demolition by the city’s Architectural Review Board. Not only did the board deny the property owner’s request to tear down the mid-century style building, but members are urging the city to enforce code regulations meant to protect historic buildings from "demolition by neglect."
Immanuel Lutheran Church owns the property and petitioned the ARB for permission to demolish the Trailways Bus Station saying it has deteriorated to the point that it’s unsafe. According to a church representative, the congregation hasn’t used it for anything but overflow parking for the past 32 years they’ve owned it and now they want to raze the building and pave it for more parking.
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The depot, built in 1962, is in the Historic Palafox Business District and Immanuel Lutheran needed the board’s approval to tear it down. Christi Colabianchi with Mattair Construction spoke to the ARB on behalf of the church and said the property is a safety hazard and liability because of its dilapidated condition, as well as the homeless who often camp there. She said it also attracts vandals and skateboarders and is an eyesore to the neighborhood.
“The church is trying to do the right thing,” said Colabianchi. “They want to add fencing and landscaping and make it a beautiful area on the corner.”
However, the board voted against the request during their meeting at City Hall, saying the Trailways Bus Station is historically and architecturally significant and said the church is to blame for allowing the building to deteriorate to the point it has, especially in a historic district. They said there's also no indication the bus station is beyond repair.
“All of these issues, the deterioration of the building, the presence of undesirable activity, it’s a direct result of the lack of action taken by the property owners,” said Derek Salter, architect and ARB chair, “which is a direct violation of development code. Nothing here meets the criteria to demolish the building. It’s the last remaining example of this kind of architecture in the area and it would be a loss to the historic district. In my opinion, the ‘right thing’ would be to properly maintain the building, which they haven’t done.”
Mid-century style buildings are popular in other cities around the state and are often preserved because of what they represent in architectural style and a neighborhood’s past. UWF historian and ARB advisor, Ross Pristera said since it hit the 50-year mark, the Trailways Bus Station could be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. He also questioned why the church bought the building in the first place if they didn’t intend to use it or keep it up.
“The church has not maintained it, they have been bad stewards of the property,” said Pristera. “This is demolition by neglect and it’s unfair to the neighborhood to allow it to become like this and then turn it into a parking lot.”
Several members of the public also spoke against demolishing the bus station, suggesting it be repurposed as a business, possibly a restaurant, brewery or even housing. Neighbor Bob Van Slyke also spoke to the board. He has lived “one door away” from the bus station for the past 20 years.
“I would like to make sure the property is cleaned up,” said Van Slyke. “It’s a god-awful mess and has been most of the 20 years I’ve lived here. The church really has not done an adequate job of taking care of that property and I’m concerned if the building is demolished, they wouldn’t keep up the parking lot either.”
Colabianchi said Immanuel Lutheran supports historic properties, given the care and restoration they’ve done of the church itself, which was built in 1885, but the depot is a problem. She also gave the board members a letter written by Immanuel Lutheran Reverend Randy Blankschaen that explained his position on the property.
She said the church does not want to sell or lease the Trailways Bus Station, despite suggestions that it could be used as an income producing property.
The board also voted to file a petition with city building officials asking them to enforce land development codes that make demolition by neglect illegal, since the issue has come up more than once.
