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| You Can Help Determine the Future of Jekyll Island |
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Jekyll Island is a place to live, to retreat to, enjoy and revere, and is a place of memories. The Jekyll Island Authority seeks to secure through redevelopment of selected areas a balance between preserving the natural beauty of Jekyll Island while creating an engaging destination for our visitors. Jekyll Island will be a preferred destination for a wide range of experiences, from camping to resort getaways, something for every Georgian and thus attractive to tourists from around the world. This is our vision that will be accomplished over the next 15 years guided by our Redevelopment Plan and Conservation Plan.
Under State of Georgia law, Jekyll Island may only be developed to 35% of it’s total land mass. The island has almost reached that capacity at over 30%. The map above indicates in red the land that is currently considered “developed.”
In order to adhere strictly to the 35/65 law, the sites identified on the lower map indicate potential areas of redevelopment. The possibility of redeveloping these sites will be guided by a comprehensive Development Plan that will establish density, architecture, landscape and streetscape guidelines.
The remaining 65% of the island must be managed to ensure the health of the sensitive barrier island ecosystem.
A comprehensive Conservation Plan will compliment the Redevelopment Plan and allow the Jekyll Island Authority to provide trustworthy stewardship to the precious natural and cultural assets that make Jekyll Island unique among other barrier islands along the east coast of the United States.
How can you help? Fill out the surveys we are giving out at the greeting station and the Jekyll Island Welcome Center. The Jekyll Island Authority wants your input. You can hand in the survey to any island business or drop it in the mail. You can even fill it out online at www.jekyllisland.com/survey. We appreciate your help, and thank you in advance for your time. |
Town Center Site
The convention center and surrounding area including the commercial strip shopping center and adjacent restaurant site provide a suitable location for establishing an intimate Town Center - a place that embraces public space, rewards pedestrian access, provides a mixture of amenities and offers a convenience not currently available.
Development: Already a part of the 35% of the island designated as “developed”, this redevelopment site will create a “sense of place” with an abundance of green space, building height below the tree canopy and specific architectural and landscape guidelines.
Conservation: “Eco-parking” will be established behind buildings and under a shade tree canopy. Access will be pedestrian-friendly with integration into island-wide bicycle network and consideration for future on-island electric vehicle transportation system.
The intention of the Town Center is to design a walkable, viable commercial village for the island’s day and night activities and public events. This pedestrian friendly atmosphere with a truly authentic Jekyll Island character will create wonderful, memorable experiences for all who choose to make Jekyll Island their residence or vacation destination. The Town Center will include a mix of restaurant, retail, a post office, a bank, residential and hotel uses, as well as a renovated convention center and a new central town green, which terminates the entrance drive and provides a public gathering space as a foreground to the ocean view.
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| SIDE TRIP: SAPELO ISLAND |
 Just up the Georgia coast north of Jekyll Island lies one of its most interesting sister islands of the Golden Isles of Georgia, Sapelo Island.
Two and a half times the size of Jekyll, both islands share some common history with some notable interesting differences. Both were claimed at the same time for the Spanish, French, and British crown, with the struggle decided in battle on the beaches of Florida and the marshes of nearby St. Simons Island. A Frenchman who once owned part of Sapelo, Christophe Poulain du Bignon, became the sole owner of Jekyll Island.
The Indian presence prior to the arrival of white Europeans and their black slaves is still visible on Sapelo at the prehistoric Indian shell ring, believed to be almost 4,000 years old, along with several Indian mounds, one of which is still intact, unlike Jekyll.
And while there is no trace today of the slave population that once worked Jekyll’s Sea Island cotton fields, a remnant population of 70 African-American Gullah-Geechee descendants of Sapelo’s slaves still live in the middle of the island in the Hog Hammock Historic District. Also still standing is the 1898 First African Baptist Church at Raccoon Bluff built from planks washed up on Sapelo from the U.S. Quarantine Station hospital on adjacent Blackbeard Island destroyed in the last great hurricane to hit the Georgia coast.
Perhaps the most interesting Sapelo owners were cotton and sugar cane planter Thomas Spalding, one of the largest slave owners on the Georgia coast, who built the “Big House” on Sapelo in 1809-1811 of tabby. Ruined during the Civil War, the mansion was restored three times in the 20th Century by later owners. The most famous were Howard Coffin, who founded Sea Island and the Cloister Resort, and R.J. Reynolds of tobacco fame and fortune, who founded the University of Georgia Marine Institute in his Sapelo Island dairy barn.
In the late 1960’s and mid 1970’s, almost all of the island was acquired by the State of Georgia as the R.J. Reynolds Wildlife Management Area and the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Area, which are both open to the public for guided tours and regulated hunting, along with Hog Hammock.
But unlike Jekyll, there is no causeway or bridge to Sapelo. Except for private boats, the only public access to Sapelo is by means of the only ferry service in the United States operated by a state game and fish agency. Public tours of Sapelo including the ferry trip are given on Wednesdays and Saturdays of each week, on a first come, first served basis. Reservations are required. For information, call 437-3224.
Private half day or whole day tours of Sapelo are also available seven days a week by calling Jekyll’s Golden Islander staff writer Jim Morrison at 912 437-6808, a local call from Jekyll, or emailing hjamesmorrison@aol.com.
Also available are kayak or motorboat tours and saltwater offshore or inshore fishing trips from Jekyll, St. Simons, the Altamaha River, Sapelo and Blackbeard Island, and walking, driving, or bicycle tours of historic Darien, Georgia’s second oldest city on the Darien waterfront and Historic District, just 30 minutes from Jekyll Island. |
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The Jekyll Island Museum's Island History Center:
See the Island for what it is, what it was, and what it will be . . . |
Passport to the Century
Feb. 12 - Nov. 26, 2006 * 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm & 3 pm daily, approx 90 min
Hear the story of the American Gilded Era in Jekyll Island's historic district. Enter two restored cottages
filled with rich tales and elegant furnishings.
$15 Adults * $7 Children 6-12 * Free under 6
Folklore, Rumor & Myth
March 3 - July 29, 2006 * By reservation only
Fri & Sat only * 8:00 p.m. * approx 90 min
Pass through the old Landmark District at twilight and enter one of the cottages for spine-tingling tales
that will draw you back through the centuries.
$15 Adults * $7 Children 6-12 * Free under 6 |
Builders & Blueprints
June 20 - Aug 10, 2006 * Tues, Wed, & Thurs * 2 pm
Not available July 4 * approx 2 hours
View custom-designed structures built for the wealthy. Inspect the detailed craftsmanship of days gone by and discover the genius of the top architects of their time on this walking tour led by historic preservationists. $15 Adults * $7 Children 6-12 * Free under 6
For more information or for reservations, stop by the ticket counter at the History Center on Stable Road or call 912-635-4036. |
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