On Saturday evening, the St. Thomas Historical Trust gathered supporters at Skytsborg, also known as Blackbeard’s Castle, to raise funds and awareness for the preservation of the island’s architectural heritage. The 17th-century watchtower, one of the most recognizable landmarks overlooking Charlotte Amalie, is slated to reopen to the public later this month after years of closure.
According to the National Historic Landmark Nomination of Skytsborg, created by the National Park Service, “Skytsborg, or Blackbeard’s Castle, is a rubble masonry tower constructed in 1679 by the Danish colonial government as part of a network of defensive fortifications to protect St. Thomas. It is the best remaining example of seventeenth-century Danish colonial military architecture in the United States, and is the only unmodified seventeenth-century fortified tower in the Caribbean.”
That authenticity is what secured its designation as one of the five National Historic Landmarks in the USVI and is also what makes Skytsborg a powerful point of connection for the community. That’s according to Felipe Ayala Jr, board member and education chairman for the St. Thomas Historical Trust and chairman of the St. Thomas-St. John Committee of the Historic Preservation Commission for DPNR, who said, “Historic preservation is about what has endured from original to the current.”
Ayala noted that a major draw for visitors is not just the tower itself but the history of the entire Kongens Quarter, especially the steep “step streets” that climb the hills of Charlotte Amalie. According to Ayala, the capital boasts 47 of them, which is the most in the Caribbean, far more than the three in Grenada and one in Puerto Rico. With so many step streets concentrated in a small area, Ayala said, much of the city’s history can be explored within walking distance of Skytsborg.
“In Kongens Quarter, you have a little bit of everything. It’s an opportunity to come and enjoy a cool cocktail, then walk the neighborhood and step back in time. From the historic Crown House to the 99 Steps, from the churches to Hotel 1829, a lot of the grand buildings of this town are in this quarter. It’s a draw in and of itself…it gives you the chance to celebrate all of that within walking distance, and that’s really unique for any small town,” said Ayala.
“Charlotte Amalie has over 400 historical buildings, more historic buildings per square mile than any other city in the country,” Ayala said. However, despite that richness, Philip Sturm, board member and Education co-chair of the St. Thomas Historical Trust and author of “West-Indian Antique Furniture of the Lesser Antilles 1740-1940,” noted persistent challenges with both attitudes toward preservation and a lack of educational focus.
“There’s a kind of pervasive attitude here that when we lose a historic house, the attitude is ‘Oh, well, we have so many more,’ which is the wrong attitude, because if everybody develops that attitude, soon there will be nothing. We have a lot. And we should preserve it all and keep it all. We need to educate people in the schools. We need to have architecture in the schools and tours of the town from the schools,” said Sturm.
Despite being home to unique neoclassical architecture, according to Sturm, Virgin Islands schools teach little about the territory’s built heritage. “They do not teach the children in school what they have inherited from the Danes. Children grow up ignorant of what they’ve inherited,” Sturm said. “They end up becoming senators or governors who don’t know what they’re looking at, which is very sad.”
Sturm pointed out across the Charlotte Amalie bay, and noted his disapproval of the architecture of the newly built Hampton by Hilton Hotel on Havensight, calling it “A box in the harbor.” Sturm continued by saying, “There’s no architectural marriage. If you’re going to put up a building, look at the town and take architectural details from the town and build your buildings to fit in with the town.” Similar sentiments were shared by Ayala, who noted that the capital was missing an opportunity to embrace its identity through emphasizing the red roofs and white buildings.
“One of the bad habits we have in the Virgin Islands is always trying to change our historic architecture to look like someplace else instead of embracing it,” Ayala said. “When you sail into Greece, you know you’re there because of the white and blue color scheme. Curaçao did the same thing, and whenever you go there, you know you’re in their harbor. These are things that naturally brand a town, but we walk away from them. We miss great opportunities when we abandon our historic past.”
The conversation highlighted the ongoing balance between commercial development, tourism, and cultural preservation. Those interested in supporting the ongoing preservation efforts by the St. Thomas Historical Trust are encouraged by both Ayala and Sturm to become members.
“Preservation is often sacrificed for commercial development, and we want to show everybody that there could be a balance. And today’s a classic example, all the movers and shakers of our town are present. They’re members of the trust, and they support all of this because it makes it a win-win for all,” said Ayala.
For both Ayala and Sturm, the work of preservation carries personal significance.
“It’s something that’s very dear to my heart. My godmother was one of the founding members of the trust, and she taught me at a very early age that you have to stand up for these things. The late Edith Woods was our preservation mentor, and she said, you have to stand up for the town. It’s part of your patrimony, and you have to enjoy it, share it, and then pass it on to another generation. And I think a lot of what trust members do now is just bring more awareness to historic preservation, because it’s being lost, and it’s being lost at an alarming rate,” said Ayala.
In response, Sturm shared a harsh truth by saying, “Once built history is lost, it’s lost forever.”
Ayala shared a similar sentiment. “I want people to understand that this town was handed down to us from generation to generation. Today, we have more knowledge, more resources, more know-how than ever before, and it’s our responsibility to safeguard it—to pass it on to the next generation. It’s what we do. We pass it on.”
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