Restoring and maintaining the historic Peacock Lodge and Peacock House as part of the Riverwalk Boardwalk project could get increasingly pricey, two Port St. Lucie City Council members lamented Monday.
It cost $1.6 million to relocate and stabilize the wood frame structures in the park under construction on Westmoreland Boulevard, south of Port St. Lucie Boulevard and the Bridge Plaza Shopping Center.
The city plans to spend another $2.5 million restoring the building interiors so they can be used for a historic museum and possibly a shop or food stand to help offset expenses.
The Peacock House was built in 1917 and the lodge was built in 1952 near Glades Cutoff Road on land now part of the Verano/PGA Village project.
The houses are part of the historic village the city is developing as part of the $12.2 million park near the Botanical Gardens that officials hope will become a major attraction.
Mayor Greg Oravec and Councilman John Carvelli said they support restoring one building for historical purposes and the other for commercial uses to generate revenue.
“Maintenance on historic structures tends to be pretty high,” Carvelli said. “We need to have a revenue-generating venture to help offset the long-term operating and maintenance costs on historic structures.”
“You’ve got to have something big to draw people there,” Carvelli said. “They’re not coming to look at the outside of a building or tour a museum over and over and over.”
Oravec questioned whether the historic buildings were worth the cost, considering the other projects the city could undertake with $2.5 million.
The kinds of businesses that could be established in one of the historic buildings include a bait and tackle shop, art studio, gallery, restaurant, cafe, coffee shop, wine bar, bakery, ice cream shop, market and a variety of entertainment uses, Oravec said.
But Councilwoman Jolien Caraballo said she would like to see both buildings restored to historical standards and used for cultural purposes.
New buildings could be added to the historic village to house shops and food venues, Caraballo said.
“I think we should move forward with the original plan of making those buildings a museum, a cultural destination, a historic village,” Caraballo said.
“I’ve always advocated and will absolutely advocate that both buildings are used for cultural significance,” she said. “I’ll make it clear that my position has and will not change that they should be used for history and for culture.”
In addition to the historic village, the park on Westmoreland Boulevard will feature a boardwalk, waterfront restaurant, top-shelf playground, nature preserve, boat docks and kayak launches on the banks of the North Fork of the St. Lucie River.
The city anticipates spending $3.4 million to construct a new segment of the Riverwalk Boardwalk this summer in the park on Westmoreland Boulevard. It will include a boardwalk stage, terrace seating and waterfront restaurant site.
The city expects to spend another $1.2 million next year extending the Riverwalk Boardwalk under the Port St. Lucie Boulevard Bridge to the original segment built in 2008 in Veterans Memorial Park.
In the following year, the city plans to spend $2 million on the top-shelf playground with a river theme.
In addition, the city plans to spend $1.9 million in 2023 installing nature trails in the 10-acre preserve due south of the park on Westmoreland Boulevard.
The final piece is a $1.2 million promenade, including boat docks, along the canal at Veterans Memorial Park.
“At the end of the five years, you will have built all of these elements and you will have the real ‘Wow-factor’ of a great park in our community,” City Manager Russ Blackburn told the council.