COVER STORY
SUSAN BURGESS
This baseball field at Sailfish Park would be home to a new government center under a
plan endorsed by Stuart city commissioners.
SUSAN BURGESS
The new Roosevelt Bridge was completed in 1997 and required the demolition of a number of historic buildings on the Potsdam side of the Florida East
Coast Railroad tracks.
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Although Historic Downtown Stuart is bustling,
compared with its condition in the 1980s, it is in
need of another rebirth. With the economic downturn,
a number of businesses have closed and once
again there are empty storefronts. Local leaders have
already taken action. The City Commission, working
with the Martin County Commission, is developing
plans for an Amtrak station and transportation
center near the Martin County Courthouse. Also, the
City Commission has offered to donate Sailfish Park,
the eight-acre ball field near the courthouse, to the
county if it constructs offices for its constitutional
officers on the property. Locating county offices
downtown will generate about $1 million per year in
new business for merchants.
NEXT CHAPTER
Today, with more the 100 retail shops, 23 restaurants
and 70 other businesses, downtown Stuart is
starting a new chapter. In January, the city released
details of a plan to bring Martin County’s constitutional
offices back to downtown and to build a
comprehensive downtown government center that
would be located on the eight-acre Sailfish Park. The
plan would generate an estimated $1 million annually
for the downtown economy.
It has received initial support from the Stuart City
Commission, Stuart Downtown Business Association,
Stuart Main Street and the East Stuart Main
Street program.