The Mobility Office of the City of St Augustine informed local Historic City News reporters of immediate road closures today and Thursday along Avenida Menendez to accommodate the transfer of the historic 1879 cenotaph honoring 46 St Augustine veterans that was built by community volunteers under authority of the Ladies Memorial Association of St Augustine.
Beginning Wednesday, September 9 at 8:00 a.m. and concluding by Thursday evening, September 10th, at 8:00 p.m., a portion of Avenida Menendez, from Cadiz St. to Bravo Ln., will be closed to traffic in order to prepare for the transport of the Confederate memorial to Trout Creek Fish Camp, located at 6550 SR-13, St. Augustine, Florida.
“We are proud to help the City of St. Augustine in relocating this historic memorial so that it will be protected and preserved for another 200 years to come,” Jeremy Patterson, Progressive Construction Vice President, told Historic City News. “We discovered the weight of the two pieces to be more than we had estimated; the top of the cenotaph weighs 20,000 lbs., and the base weighs 80,000 lbs.”
The added weight being transported made travel across less stable bridges encountered along the route impractical if not impossible. In the case of the memorial, Patterson says the City is taking great care to ensure that it remains intact for generations to come.
For a two-hour period on Wednesday morning, between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., traffic on King Street. will be temporarily interrupted, between Aviles Street. and Avenida Menendez, to allow for the memorial to be moved from the Plaza de la Constitution to Avenida Menendez where it will be staged for marine transport.
Drivers are encouraged to avoid the area and take alternate routes. Times are subject to change due to weather or unforeseen circumstances.