ST. CROIX — During a meeting today, the St. Croix Historic Preservation Committee directed attorney and property owner Trudy Fenster to remove bricks, cinder blocks, and a concrete planter installed without approval along a sidewalk and stairway in downtown Christiansted’s historic district.
The action followed unauthorized construction along the sidewalk in front of Fenster’s building at the corner of Custom and Church streets.
“She has to remove any kind of blockage that was put up there,” Colette Woodson Burgess, committee chair, told WTJX after the meeting.
Fenster, who participated in today’s virtual meeting with committee members, must remove bricks enclosing half of the stairway, a concrete planter supported by cinder blocks beneath the building’s arches, and other cinder blocks installed along the sidewalk under two additional arches and on top of the bricks obstructing the stairs.
Burgess said Fenster may still place planters in the area, but not like the concrete one in place now. Any future planters must be freestanding, removable, and approved by the commission.
“She can place some kind of planters there, but not on those blocks like she has it now,” Burgess said. “She has to come back to us to show us what she is proposing to put there — planters, not blocks — something that can be removed, maybe large decorative pots that look nice.”
The committee also made clear that the stairway along Church Street cannot be blocked in any way.
The construction drew complaints from community members concerned about alterations within the historic district. Burgess previously told WTJX that the commission would have worked with Fenster earlier in the process and could have offered alternatives if the proper application had been submitted before construction began.
“She could have come to us, and we could have given her other options to close off that space,” Burgess said. “But not those things there. They have absolutely nothing to do with the visual appeal of that building.”
READ MORE: Historic Preservation to meet with Trudy Fenster over her unapproved construction in C’sted town
During today’s meeting, Burgess said Fenster raised concerns about irregularities in the building’s historic Danish brick steps. Burgess said those features are common in older structures and can be addressed with signage rather than structural changes.
“I told her several buildings have those irregular Danish brick steps,” Burgess said. “People who feel it might be a problem put up a sign — ‘caution, old building, stairs irregular, please watch your step.’”
Fenster also agreed to install signage encouraging use of the handrail. According to Burgess, Fenster said she would comply with the commission’s directives and begin removing the unauthorized materials immediately. No formal deadline was issued.
“She said she would abide by whatever we had her do,” Burgess said.
