Historic preservation award presented to 210 Palmetto Street.

Written by Anthony Bicy

Belden Communications News

At the November 16 City Commission meeting, Mayor Russ Owen presented the 2021 Donnadine Miller Memorial Historic Preservation Award to Randy and Angie Herman of 210 Palmetto St.

The annual Historic Preservation Award recognizes buildings and history-defining sites 50 years and older in New Smyrna Beach’s past. Those buildings promote pride in the city and increase appreciation for the city’s history and character. There are several criteria for the award, such as appropriate materials and colors, whether the building reflects its original architecture, and more.

Mr. Herman shared three lessons learned while restoring the property upon receiving the reward.

“One is there’s a myth that restoring a historic house is constraining; you’re confined by paint color and all kinds of things, when in fact we found it to be pretty creative,” said Mr. Herman. “So, for folks that are hesitant, it is a creative process, and, as you can see, the house did turn out pretty well.”

He then added, “The second thing is house restoration is full of surprises, both costly and otherwise. One example is when we took up some floorboards on the stairs, we found a child’s shoe and did some research, and at the turn of the century, it was not uncommon to put a child’s shoe in the floorboard for posterity. So, it was interesting but a little...”

“Cool, but creepy,” interjected Mayor Owen, whose comment gained laughter. 

“And the last point, is there a certain amount of urgency? I do believe there is, you know, just recently two houses that are two streets from us were torn down. Both owners paid well over $1 million. Both houses were amazing places that could have been restored," Herman said. "So, there is a sense of urgency because not everybody sees the value in that. I think whatever support the city can give concerning incentives, working with county, state, and even federal supporting the establishment of the local historic districts because I think it is what we talk about when we talk about the charm of New Smyrna Beach. So, thank you all very much for this honor.”

For more information on the award, watch the presentation at https://bit.ly/3nmXwxw.