There is an awesome story in Creative Loafing this week about the city’s history with history and the 9 most endangered buildings. You know, I think this Alex Pickett fellow over at the Loaf may very well be a legit journalist! Cheers to you, Alex.

You should most definitely go read the thing right now, as it is full of some very interesting information. Alex brings up an excellent point which has always had me scratching my head about our fearless leader Rickroll Baker: how does a dude that wrote a book on St. Pete’s history stand by and let developers demolish most of what’s remaining?

City officials say preservation is one of their priorities. After all, Mayor Rick Baker wrote a book on St. Petersburg’s history. Two years ago, he sponsored a Historical Preservation Summit. And in the latest land-use regulations, there are a host of incentives for property owners and developers to keep historical structures intact. Preservationists are not sure about the city’s sincerity… St. Pete’s comprehensive plan, which directs city officials to seek out and designate three buildings as local landmarks each year… has not initiated any local landmark designations in the past two years.

Can’t really tell everyone you’re all about the history and then essentially make it easy and enticing for developers to swoop in and buy whole city blocks to demolish. In fact, Alex points out a very disturbing fact about the city block in question (you know the awesome old store fronts on Central at 6th): “on May 1, the developer requested a demolition permit from the city, which is pending.” The assholes who bought that block kicked all of those shops out almost 2 years ago, leaving them as a horrible reminder of failure and now it appears their demolition is finally imminent - sad day.

Alex also points out a darkly humorous bit of irony with regards to our beloved Downtown. Did you know that our downtown, along with the 9 endangered buildings in the story, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places? So much for that meaning anything to anyone.

I know that I’ve been accused of not wanting any kind of new development, influx of new people or new money into the area and that just isn’t true. What I don’t want is for all of that to come at the expense of the few remaining amazing historical landmarks that have somehow dodged the wrecking ball thus far. And yes, we can have both, real cities have been doing this for ages. Want some condos on Central Avenue? Build them above the storefronts, preserving the history and the few remaining open air arcades. Work with what we’ve got. Celebrate what makes this place unique.