The plan was to take our petition to the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners when we reached 1000 signatures (We are currently at 976!). We would present the petition to the Board at a regular meeting during the public comment section.
But now, we have succeeded, thanks to you and all those who have signed this petition, without this final step. Here is the article from the Jacksonville Today Newsletter at https://jaxtoday.org/2025/05/08/st-johns-county-backs-off-plan-to-demolish-old-jail/
Again, this would not have happened without your support. Our community, for generations to come, have you to thank for your help in gaining attention to saving this historic landmark. Thank you so very much!!
And special kudos to David Nolan and Trey Asner, leaders in this effort to preserve our history!
St. Johns County backs off plan to demolish civil rights site
By Noah Hertz
Published on May 8, 2025 at 12:42 pm
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St. Johns County says a plan to demolish an old jail building where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in St. Augustine is no longer on the table after community activists opposed the plan.
Addressing the St. Johns County Commission this week, County Administrator Joy Andrews said officials are now looking for a cost-effective way to turn the empty building in the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office administrative complex into office space.
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“I think the team’s collective decision was to move forward to renovate the jail structure because it is a very sound structure and it is very costly to recreate a structure like that,” Andrews said.
She said the county is also looking at preserving it for historical purposes.
Built in the 1950s, the unassuming building tucked into the complex on Lewis Speedway served as the county’s jail for years. The jail building is where civil rights activists, including King and a group of rabbis, were sent after they were arrested during protests against segregation in the 1960s.
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When historic preservation advocates became aware earlier this year that the county was considering demolishing the building, they acted fast.
Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, the head of the St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society, launched an online petition to save the building. It has since received nearly 1,000 signatures.
Speaking with Jacksonville Today earlier this year, St. Johns Sheriff Rob Hardwick said he had spoken with members of the Black and Jewish communities and was not expecting so much opposition to its removal. The building hasn’t been used as a jail for decades, and any historically significant material has long since been removed.
But Shapiro says it’s about more than just what’s inside the building — it’s about what the building represents.
“The connection to the Jewish world and the world of civil rights for African Americans in our country,” Shapiro said. “There are few places in our country that have such an intersection.”