One idea is to move the 117-year-old Andrews House (above) near the historic Magnuson House and turn them into a downtown historic destination. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Tao Woolfe
No decisions have been made about preserving two historic Boynton Beach pioneer homes, but ideas for their use are cropping up like fissures in old- growth timber.
The Community Redevelopment Agency board on May 13 heard many of those ideas, from turning the 117-year-old Andrews House into a luxury coffee spot, to creating a destination enclave of the Andrews House and the 1919 Magnuson House where people could enjoy a light lunch with a side of history.
Even Manuel Mato — the developer who owns the land at 306 SE First Ave. upon which the Andrews House currently sits, and who was apparently ready to demolish the structure just before Thanksgiving last year — has come up with a proposal for saving and reusing the city’s oldest home.
He has suggested to the city and the CRA that the Andrews House be moved to the north side of his First Avenue project site, just west of the railroad tracks, and used as a coffee shop or eatery in the planned mixed-use Villages project. He would add a commercial kitchen.
Preservationists are not in favor of Mato’s idea because it calls for a complete renovation of the building, an abandonment of any historic designation effort, and asks the city to provide planning assistance and pay moving costs.
City commissioners, acting in their roles as CRA board members, dismissed Mato’s suggestion as premature since the CRA staff has not finished its research.
“Let the CRA run interference, run down the options, and bring it back to us,” Commissioner Woodrow Hay said.
Hay summed up the consensus of the board: He is in favor of preserving the old houses, but wants to see a complete breakdown of costs and benefits.
A $200,000 coffee shop proposal for the Magnuson House by Allison Boettcher, owner of Blue Mountain Coffee House in West Palm Beach, was also jettisoned by the CRA board members on May 13 as premature and underfunded.
Boettcher, who described Blue Mountain coffee as the “rarest and most sought-after coffee in the world,” was encouraged to reapply when plans are more settled.
Preservationists have been advocating for the city to save the Andrews House for more than 10 years. The matter came to a head in November when neighborhood residents noticed a yellow demolition excavator sitting on the home’s site.
The panicked neighbors pleaded successfully with the mayor and commissioners to persuade the property owner to scuttle the demolition. The Andrews House and the Magnuson House have been a hot topic ever since.
At a Jan. 14 City Commission meeting, Assistant Public Works Director Richard Hoffer said the city and CRA staff are looking at three potential locations for the Andrews House: a city park at Northeast Sixth Avenue and Northeast Sixth Court, the 211 E. Ocean Ave. site currently occupied by the Magnuson House, and a large, CRA-owned lot at North Seacrest Boulevard and Northeast Third Avenue.
Hoffer added that city staff had consulted with contractors and had determined that it would cost $100,000 to $150,000 to move the Andrews home to a new site, $75,000 to $100,000 in construction costs, and $50,000 in consultant fees for a total of about $375,000, which also included a 25% contingency.
The project would take at least 14 to 16 months to complete — including the design, permitting and ultimately procuring historic designation, Hoffer said.
At that meeting and at all subsequent meetings — and on surveys that have been conducted — residents have said they prefer having the Andrews House on the same parcel as the Magnuson House to create a downtown historic enclave.
At a meeting in February, the city agreed to set aside $300,000 to use for preservation. Residents are hoping some of the money can be used to move the Andrews House and to renovate the Magnuson House, at least partially.
At its most recent meeting, the CRA board members and staff were urged by residents to come up with a solution quickly.
“I don’t know why we’re continuing to delay this — and giving the developer a chance to knock it down,” longtime resident Susan Oyer said of the Andrews House. “We need to be moving forward.”
The Andrews House once belonged to the daughter of Major Nathan S. Boynton — the city’s founding father. The Magnuson House was built right after World War I, by Oscar Sten Magnuson, the husband of one of the city’s first clerks. He grew ferns and mango and avocado trees, and after his death in 1959, the property became a plant nursery, according to published reports.
Barbara Ready, chairman of the Historic Resources and Preservation Board and president of the Boynton Beach Historical Society, said after the May meeting that she and other preservationists plan to continue their fight to save both buildings and keep them together somewhere.
“We’re not giving up,” Ready said. “We don’t need more condos and concrete. We need — and deserve — a little, peaceful, historic enclave. It should be income-producing — with light food, like salads, cookies, and ice cream — so it’s not an albatross.”
The Andrews House was completely renovated several years ago and has survived many storms and major hurricanes, historian Ginger Pedersen has said.
“Its significance goes beyond its age; the structure embodies the craftsmanship and character of Florida’s early settlers,” Pedersen has said. “It’s a very cool little house.”
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