Subject:
Grant application for the Philippe Park Interpretive Signs project to be submitted to the Florida Division of Historical Resources for the Historic Preservation Small Matching Grants program.
Recommended Action:
Action
Approval of the grant application to complete the Philippe Park Interpretive Signs project by the Director of Housing & Community Development to be submitted to the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources.
• Archaeological investigations conducted in 2019 at Philippe Park by the University of South Florida, Department of Anthropology have revealed new information about the Safety Harbor Site (8Pi2), the only National Historic Landmark in Pinellas County.
• The proposed grant request is $45,000.00 with no match requirement for the preparation, fabrication, and installation of ten (10) outdoor interpretive signs that will reveal the history of the site for park visitors.
• If awarded, project work will be managed by Pinellas County Housing & Community Development with support from University of South Florida, Department of Anthropology and Pinellas County Parks & Conservation Resources Department.
Strategic Plan:
Practice Superior Environmental Stewardship
3.2 Preserve and manage environmental lands, beaches, parks, and historical assets
Deliver First Class Services to the Public and Our Customers
5.2 Be responsible stewards of the public’s resources
Summary:
A grant application is proposed for the Philippe Park Interpretive Signs project which will benefit the County by improving existing interpretive signage in Philippe Park through completion of background research on significant archaeological resources within Philippe Park, production of a webpage accessed by QR code that shows interpretive sign locations, and the installation of ten (10) unique interpretive signs in Philippe Park. Project work will include preparation of interpretive text and images by County and USF staff with graphic layout and sign fabrication performed by a professional company experienced with outdoor interpretive signs and exhibits.
Background/Explanation:
This project proposes the installation of ten (10) unique interpretive signs at Philippe Park, the oldest park in the Pinellas County Park system established in 1948. This park is the location of the Safety Harbor Site (8Pi2) currently the only National Historic Landmark in Pinellas County. The site is recognized by archaeologists and historians as the principal village of the Tocobaga chiefdom and the site of a briefly occupied Spanish mission-fort in the 1560s. The vicinity is also the location of St. Helena plantation, established in 1842 as one of the earliest non-native, permanent settlements on the Pinellas peninsula owned and operated by the park’s namesake, Odet Philippe. Also, information on the various archaeological investigations conducted at the site from 1880 to 2019 will be included.
Existing interpretive signage at the park is minimal in number and incomplete in scope. There are a few much older (ca. 1950s) interpretive markers scattered about the park, but the only modern-era interpretation consists of a single panel at the base of the mound that provides a brief and general overview of the Tocobaga tribe. Recent archaeology allows us to interpret this component of the site’s history in much greater detail, including information on the layout of the village, its precolonial history, subsistence, house forms, etc. Furthermore, there is little existing interpretive signage focusing on the park’s namesake, Odet Philippe, for whom recent scholarship indicates a much more complicated history including the probability that this nineteenth century slaveowner was probably himself of Afro-Caribbean descent. Finally, none of the current interpretive signage describes the development of the park and the alterations it has undergone in the modern era.
Fiscal Impact:
This is a single-year reimbursement grant project that will likely impact FY25. The total requested funding is $ 45,000.00 with $0.00 expected match. The total project is estimated to cost $45,000.00.
Staff Members Responsible:
Carol Stricklin, Director, Housing & Community Development Department
Thomas Scofield, Principal Planner, Housing & Community Development Department
Partners:
Pinellas County Parks & Conservation Resources Department
University of South Florida, Department of Anthropology
The Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN)
Attachments:
Draft of FDHR Small Matching Grant Application
Proposed location of Philippe Park Interpretive Signs (grant application attachment)
OMB Email RE: Sharepoint Grants Database