Council OKs plan to spruce up ugly Utility Boxes

Utility boxes on South 3rd Street downtown

Unsightly electrical utility boxes scattered throughout historic downtown will get a makeover following approval Thursday by the city's Historic District Council (HDC) to have historical illustrative wrapping put over the sun faded green units.

"We're always looking at ways to beautify our wonderful downtown area," said local architect Jose Miranda, a Main Street board member who also serves on the group's design council. "I know sometimes you don't notice them, but we do...the utility boxes, especially when they're the nasty green ones, that are in multiple locations."

He displayed a map of historic downtown showing the location of 14 Florida Public Utilities, Department of Transporation and City of Fernandina Beach utility boxes from Front Street east to 8th Street.

The group's plan is to put an automotive type of decorative wrap with historical images on the boxes to "make them more appealing."

Miranda said that utility boxes in areas where an historic building was located would have a wrap with a photograph of the building like the Keystone Hotel which was demolished in 1972.

Other utility boxes will be wrapped with images of various Sanborn maps of the city. Sanborn maps are a detailed, large-scale maps produced by the Sanborn Map Company from the late 19th century through much of the 20th century. The city maps were originally created for fire insurance assessment purposes, but currently are used for historical research, urban planning, environmental assessments, and historic preservation.

Miranda said Main Street was exploring whether to use different versions of the Sanborn maps by the year they were produced.

"You could tell this is the way it was in 1898, this it was it was in 1903, so you can see the progression," he said. "What great about the Sanborn maps is you can see a lot of history on how the buildings changed...it's much more dynamic that you can see what used to be in that location."

The project is being fully funded by Main Street with no city funds required.

Along with HDC approval, Miranda said the designs would also need to be approved by FDOT and FPU.