Heritage Village located on Sanders Avenue has been a topic of conversation for several months with residents concerned about its future. The property, owned by the Baptist University of Florida, was the “brainchild” of past president, Dr. Thomas Kinchen and includes mid-nineteenth century to early twentieth century structures “that Kinchen had moved and restored to include three churches, two log cabins, a one-room schoolhouse, and three homes,” according to an article by then- Baptist College of Florida in 2019. The future of those homes and the “Village” has now been made clear with BUF President Dr. Clayton Cloer speaking with The Graceville News on the matter and why demolition is needed.
Dr. Cloer began stating that, “There are plans to demolish,” adding that a timeline for demolition, “hasn’t been said.” He went on to speak about why the University has decided on this route and the burden of cost that has occurred due to damage from the many storms the local area has dealt with in the past six years.
He started by giving good news that the beloved Clark House will not be touched. He commented, “The Clark house has done well through the storms and everything and it’s not in that situation. It’s in good shape and we can still utilize it. It’s the facilities that we can’t use anymore that are the ones we are demolishing.”
That does include the Williams home, which used to sit across from First Baptist Church in Graceville. He noted that the home received major damage during the many storms to hit the area. Sadly, due to this as well as other factors, “The house has been very unusable for several years.” The other structure known in Graceville history, the log cabin, is also planned to be demolished. Dr. Cloer explained that the cabin has extensive damage to its outside and while it “probably has some use left in it…[however] we have no purpose for it, and it has so much damage on the outside of it, that we are going to go ahead and include it in the project. We don’t have the resources to maintain all this.”
When asked if any of the local government entities or historical groups had reached out about the structures and moving them to another property, Dr. Cloer commented, “Absolutely not”, nobody had reached out officially. When asked if he’d be open to those conversations, he emphatically answered “Yeah sure, absolutely!” He went on to add however to individuals or groups wanting to inquire about moving the homes, “need to understand that first of all the structures themselves… are largely unmovable because of their current state. And the movers who moved them in [also] came out and looked at all the structures and the cost of moving them is incredible now.”
While the future of Heritage Village is not what many were hoping, the Baptist University of Florida is working hard to improve and bring more students to the area and school. It most recently announced its plans to build and improve its athletics and wellness, which will incorporate a vast array of new sports coming to the Graceville campus including softball, baseball, cross country, men’s basketball, and women’s volleyball in Fall 2025! For more information on BUF visit its website at buf.edu.
PHOTO CUTLINE: The Clark Home will not be demolished with Dr. Cloer noting that it had withstood the past few years of storms very well.
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