- Restoration is needed after the historic cottage at Lichgate on High Road was broken into.
- Doors, furniture, historical documents and books were left battered or destroyed.
- Watch the video to see the damage and find out how you can help restore what once was the home of FSU English Professor Laura Jepsen.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The historic cottage at Lichgate on High Road will need repairs and upgrades after neighbors found it broken into and vandalized. I’m Kenya Cardonne, in the Northwest Tallahassee neighborhood. Park directors and neighbors say the destruction left inside was heartbreaking to see.
Video shared with ABC 27 shows the near obliteration of the community treasure that is the cottage at Lichgate on High Road.
Sonja De La Cruz, Director at Lichgate on High Road - “I was speechless.”
A historic structure preserving what once was the home of FSU English Professor Laura Jepsen.. now left battered.
Neighbors wondering: who could have done this?
De La Cruz - “I had my tears and to look at all of Dr. Jepsen’s belongings and beloved, cherished historical items piled up so high in the middle of the room, just tossed and broken, almost like the person was getting ready to start a fire.”
Director Sonja De La Cruz says the cottage was last locked up Thursday evening. She recalls everything was fine until Saturday morning, when one neighbor arrived to find that it wasn’t.
Tomas Caruso Pernas, Neighbor - “And I saw the front door of the place, and it was just like, busted open. I walked in through the door, I just took a peek, and I could see that there was stuff all up in the bathroom, stuff on the staircase, like, everything was kind of flipped over, almost like a tornado went through the place.”
Good samaritan Tomas Caruso Pernas flagged the apparent break-in to the park’s directors.
Pernas - “I think those historical things really need to be taken care of.”
While police conduct their investigation, De La Cruz says historical respites like these can’t afford this kind of a blow.
De La Cruz - “We have floorboards there that came from the original ships that sailed to America. We have the granite from the same quarry as the State Capitol. We have redwood and cedar. We can't get redwood like that anymore.”
Volunteers spent Saturday fixing up the place as much as they could and even boarded up windows. But, the small nonprofit says they need the community’s help to restore damages and increase protection here with lighting, fencing and surveillance cameras.
De La Cruz - “For our future generation, they don't have much left here, and this is what we need to take care of.”
Contact the nonprofit if you want to help with restoration and security upgrades.
Email: lichgatehighroad@gmail.com
Phone: 850-363-2717
