To the editor:
Over the past few years, and in particularly over the past months, a slew of local businesses have closed. Since the closing of Hamburger Heaven over a decade ago, the town has lost Main Street News, Chez Jean-Pierre, Stationer on Sunrise, Mariko, The Palm Beach Bookstore and Kofski Antiques, just to name a few.
I would dub these local businesses legacy institutions of the town, given each one’s long history of commercial service. Yet in the face of rising rents and the other financial issues of our modern world, there is no attempt to preserve these historic legacy businesses, which make our town and give it our unique character.
When the building where Green’s Pharmacy is located in came up before the Landmarks Preservation Commission for designation several years ago, as a commissioner I successfully argued against it being landmarked. My point was the building was unremarkable. It was the business and its history which was remarkable. Landmarking would not keep the business, only the building.
As moves have been made to landmark sections of South County Road, we have again seen this play out. The buildings are redeveloped under the rules of our Historic Preservation Ordinance Sec 54-122, but the businesses are still pushed out. Our current system of historic preservation is not addressing this issue.
What is to be done? Might it be time for an evolution in historic preservation to meet these issues? Ten years ago during the end of my time as president of the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, I attempted to model a program based on California’s Legacy Business programs to address this issue, but the support was not there. Perhaps the moment is now. Since that time, over 30 communities across the country have created a version of a Legacy Business program, with several here in Florida.
It works, at its best, by raising funds and developing criteria for rent assistance. Of key concern is to obviously not throw good money after bad. The concept is not to support failing, mismanaged or out-of-date businesses, but rather small ones that have given a community its identity but might need a bit of help continuing to provide that identity.
Over 99% of all businesses in the U.S. are small businesses and most fail within five years. The Legacy Business programs require proof of the business’s history, usually that they have been around for at least 30 years. The assistance relates to specific analysis of square-footage pricing, with limits put on just how much financial assistance is warranted. The money also is given directly to the landlord in support of the tenant.
The program also provides advice on better business practices and offers special marketing and promotions related to being recognized as a Legacy Business. The program can be run by a charity or local government.
Those are its basics and as a cutting-edge evolution of historic preservation, it has been successful.
I recall Antonio Gramsci’s famous letter to his brother: “I am a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.” We have failed before but our chance and time might be now. Or as that other famous Italian Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa wrote, “in order for everything to remain the same, everything must change.”
Alexander C. Ives, Palm Beach
Ives is a member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Letter: Palm Beach needs a program to protect legacy businesses
Reporting by Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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