SEBASTIAN — On the surface, it would appear a simple task – create a small museum highlighting the City of Sebastian’s fishing village history, telling the story of how the city came to be and how important commercial fishing is to the community’s identity.
Four years after having received the Stan Mayfield Working Waterfront grant from the State of Florida, one of the smaller requirements remains incomplete and barely started – the museum inside the former Hurricane Harbor property, which now houses Crab-E Bill’s Indian River Seafood.
But, armed with a promised $15,000 grant from the Sebastian Clambake Foundation, the city is about to embark on establishing the museum and checking it off the state’s to-do list.
The non-profit Fisherman’s Landing Sebastian group was originally supposed to be responsible for rehabilitating the Hurricane Harbor property, creating the fishing-themed museum and managing the ancillary businesses located on the site.
In the end, though, the City of Sebastian reworked its agreement with the fishing group and took back control of the property, assuming the responsibility of leases within the Indian River Drive property and, now too, the museum.
“At this stage, I don’t think it really matters,” City Manager Al Minner said of the shift in responsibility. “The vision is the same.”
What, exactly, that vision entails remains to be determined.
“I have some homework to do yet,” Minner said, explaining that he has been wrapped up in the city’s budget process and preparing for negotiations with the collective bargaining groups. He said he needs to still put together more partners, enlisting their help and expertise.
Among those Minner plans to tap for assistance is members of Fisherman’s Landing Sebastian.
“We’ll still have a connection with them,” Minner said.
Others Minner plans to reach out to include the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce. Beth Mitchell, the Chamber’s executive director, was a member of the now-sunset Working Waterfront Committee. The committee had been instrumental in the first couple years of the city’s receiving the Stan Mayfield Working Waterfront grant – helping to guide the city in the endeavor.
“We have stressed over the years that we would help,” Mitchell said of the Chamber’s willingness to assist in creating the museum.
Mitchell pointed to the educational displays at the Sebastian Inlet that tell parts of Sebastian’s history as a starting point from which Sebastian could model its own displays.
“The story is told over there,” Mitchell said, “and now it needs to be told over here.”
Both she and Minner envision having historical videos play on a screen in the museum. Several already exist that tell the histories of commercial fishing, the city itself, and even that of Pelican Island, the first national wildlife refuge.
“It can’t happen soon enough from the Chamber’s perspective,” Mitchell said of the museum being built.
She said such a facility would serve as a point of interest along the city’s waterfront, drawing residents and tourists alike to the area, giving them something to do.
The museum is one of the final pieces left to getting the former Hurricane Harbor side of the Working Waterfront project complete. The property immediately to the south on Indian River Drive, at what is commonly referred to as the Dabrowski property, is the actual “working” part of the project. Commercial fishermen use the property to bring in their catch and haul it to market.
More work still needs be done on that side, including the construction of a new fish house and an ice house. The non-profit group, Fisherman’s Landing Sebastian, has agreed to take on the ice house itself, but the city will be required to build the fish house.
Under the new lease agreement between the non-profit and the city, the City of Sebastian will have two years to build the fish house. The city is working to secure grant funding to help offset the expense.
As for the Clambake Foundation grant, the Clambake committee decided to award $15,000 to the City of Sebastian for the museum, nearly $17,500 to the Ecumenical Council for a parking lot and road project, and agreed to split whatever revenues remain from the upcoming Clambake Festival among other organizations.
“We leave this in the hands of our board,” said Sebastian Clambake Foundation member Anjani Cirillo.
The foundation expects to make at least $32,000 in profit at the Clambake Festival, which is scheduled for Nov. 2 through Nov. 4 at Riverview Park on US 1 at Sebastian Boulevard (County Road 510).
“This is totally dependent on the weather and people,” Cirillo said of how successful the event will be this year.
Among those who voted on the grant applications was Michael Stutzke, who said that the committee approved the city’s request, in part, because the “city has been extremely supportive of the Clambake Festival.”
Overall, the committee tried to identify grant applications that would benefit the most people, he said. The Working Waterfront museum would do exactly that – bring people into the building to learn about the community and give visitors a sense of what the community is like.
Just as the Clambake Festival does, Stutzke said.
Approving the City of Sebastian’s application was “pretty much a no-brainer,” he said, explaining that the city’s Working Waterfront project is helping to improve the area along the river and to preserve a piece of the city’s history.
“I think that’s very important,” Stutzke said.
So far, the city has few items marked for the museum. The interior of the building – not counting the fish market – has some nautical decorations and historical photographs, but nothing specific to the museum.
“I don’t know much about historical procurement,” Sebastian City Manager Al Minner said, noting that he would be learning about that as time permits.
In the meantime, Minner said that people who have items that might fit into the Sebastian commercial fishing-themed museum are welcome to contact him for consideration. Financial donations, too, would be appreciated.
To contact Minner, call (772) 388-8203 or email aminner@cityofsebastian.org.