Women's club infested with crazy destructive species of Formosan termites.

[Houseboat Mike]

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/iconic-historic-building-in-jacksonville-infested-with-termites/244831212


"One of the River City's most iconic and historic buildings is infested with termites and will soon have to be torn down.

The Women's Club of Jacksonville is adjacent to the Cummer Museum on Riverside Avenue.  The museum had plans to renovate that building, but now they have to start from scratch."

[Captain Zissou]

You've got to be kidding me.

[thelakelander]

That's a ton of money to spend to only now figure out it must be torn down. It will be interesting to see what replaces it.

[copperfiend]

Terrible

[Sandyfeets]

The loss of the building is enormous (along with the $7 million invested in acquisition and restoration of the exterior of the building itself.)

However the bigger  picture for the entire neighborhood is that particular species of termite itself.  They aren't the normal subterranean termite that most of us are aware of.  They are voracious eaters; and don't just eat wood, they eat anything that gets in the way of getting to the wood.

Homeowners and business owners in the entire neighborhood should be very afraid.  It's time to call your personal pest control service for an inspection and begin prevention if you haven't already.
The loss of one building is bad, the loss of multiple buildings in the historic district to this pest would be worse. 

In the end, cutting losses and moving forward is the right thing to do.  The Cummer has part of it's collection in storage and needs room to expand for multiple reasons.  I am hopeful that the new building will blend in with the architecture and style of the neighborhood. 

[Dog Walker]

The French Quarter in New Orleans was hit hard by those Formosan Termites.  Walking the sidewalks there you will see the silver metal tops of the Sentricon System everywhere.

One homeowner showed me where they had eaten up through his floor and into the leg of a desk, then through the whole desk.

[sheclown]

The French Quarter in New Orleans was hit hard by those Formosan Termites.  Walking the sidewalks there you will see the silver metal tops of the Sentricon System everywhere.

One homeowner showed me where they had eaten up through his floor and into the leg of a desk, then through the whole desk.

And yet, the French Quarter still stands...

[strider]

From what I have been told about these termites, it is not really the termite itself, it is mostly the shear numbers of them, many times the "normal" size of the colonies of "regular" termites.  It still takes years to get a colony large enough to do this much damage.  From what I can tell, this building has sat untouched since 2008? A long time and you would be hard pressed to convince me at least part of this is not the desire to go in a different direction than was planned years ago.

Still, as the Historic Guidelines state that cost of rehab or repairs should not be taken in consideration and often isn't if you are the "wrong" person, this group, with Wayne Wood giving support, is obviously the right group to get a historic building torn down and get accolades for doing it.

If it is torn down (and I question the true need, though I'm sure demo and new is far less costly) the new building should not blend but rather stand out and be a great illustration of new architectural design.

[twojacks]

insider information?  How was it determined on this site that they are formosa termites?

[Josh]

insider information?  How was it determined on this site that they are formosa termites?

RAP just sent out a newsletter stating that they are Formosan terminates, so plenty of people were already informed of this detail.

[CG7]

I don't think I've read anything that makes me sadder in a long time. I got married there 18 years ago, and peak inside every time I go to The Cummer (at least once a month). I guess I better get down there and take some nostalgic photos, DAMN!!!

[acme54321]

It still takes years to get a colony large enough to do this much damage.  From what I can tell, this building has sat untouched since 2008? A long time and you would be hard pressed to convince me at least part of this is not the desire to go in a different direction than was planned years ago.

I was thinking the same thing.  You'd be hard pressed to convince me that an infestation so large that the building needs to come down would go completely unnoticed.

[Riverrat]

It still takes years to get a colony large enough to do this much damage.  From what I can tell, this building has sat untouched since 2008? A long time and you would be hard pressed to convince me at least part of this is not the desire to go in a different direction than was planned years ago.

I was thinking the same thing.  You'd be hard pressed to convince me that an infestation so large that the building needs to come down would go completely unnoticed.

Ditto - I hate to say this, because the are such good neighborhood stewards, but the first thing I thought...how did Cummer let it go this long and let it get this bad???

[Tacachale]

According to the email Cummer sent out, they've been aware of the problem for months and have been trying to deal with it ever since, to no avail. There are proposed treatments but they aren't reliable and may not solve the problem, even if they devoted the money toward that.

[Kay]

No journalistic skepticism?