Land Purchase Will Preserve Fort

ST. SIMONS ISLAND – The British built Fort Frederica in the 1700s to protect St. Simons Island from invasion. Now the Glynn County Commission and St. Simons Land Trust are joining to buy 20 acres to protect the historic fort from the island.

The 20 acres bordering the fort to the north will establish the final buffer needed to protect the park from the opulent houses that have sprung up nearby, officials said.

The purchase will ensure the historic fort still looks out over trees rather than fences and rooftops and preserve the visitor experience, said Michelle Pugliese, the director of land acquisition for the Land Trust.

“You can’t get lost in the history if you have these multimillion- dollar homes backing up to it,” she said.

The county will borrow nearly $3 million to buy the wooded parcel, but taxpayers won’t be on the hook for the payments, County Commissioner Uli Keller said.

Mr. Keller and fellow county commissioners voted Aug. 2 to apply for a $2.75 million loan and a $750,000 grant from the state, to be put toward the purchase of the unspoiled and historically valuable property.

Sea Island Co., the property’s current owner, had given the community until Aug. 31 to buy the land, after which it would have made it available to private developers.

The company will actually sell the property to the St. Simons Land Trust, a citizens group that preserves property. Glynn County got involved to give the Land Trust access to a low-interest state loan that is available only to county governments. The Land Trust will make payments to Glynn County and the county will pass the funds along to the state.

When federal funds become available, the National Park Service said, it will buy the land from the Land Trust.

It might seem overly complicated, but the financial gymnastics are necessary, officials said, because the wheels of government – especially the federal government – move more slowly than those of private industry.

The Park Service funds must be allocated by Congress and that could take awhile, Mr. Keller said.

Originally published by Carole Hawkins Morris News Service.

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