Safeguarding Sites
Public history graduate student Alessio Luna works to preserve North Florida landmarks, protect communities鈥 history
While en route to Tallahassee campus, Alessio Luna makes a quick stop in a small Panhandle town for fuel and a snack. He also scopes out the surrounding buildings, wondering about the people and the lives lived within their walls.
Most folks wouldn鈥檛 spend a road-trip pitstop exploring any town鈥檚 Main Street, but Luna, a master鈥檚 student in the Historical Administration and Public History program, sees lesser-known historical structures like banks, courthouses, and schoolhouses as valuable North Florida cultural heritage sites.
Luna, who was born and raised in Miami, focuses on identifying key sites, researching their connection to the community鈥檚 history, and preventing destruction by developers. He hopes to establish sustainable landmarks that serve as visitor destinations, providing an economic benefit to counties in need.
鈥淲e鈥檙e at a crossroads in preservation where development and cost of living are on the rise, and factors of greed and opportunity have blinded many,鈥 he said. 鈥淎s Floridians passionate about protecting our cultural heritage, we must understand these risks.鈥
Luna interns with the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, a statewide nonprofit with a mission to promote preservation and sharing of the state鈥檚 diverse architectural, historical and archaeological heritage. The Trust is located in Tallahassee within the Hayes-Hood House, which was built in 1910 and functions as both an office and landmark.
There, Luna works with the Eleven to Save program 鈥 an annual list of Florida鈥檚 11 most endangered sites 鈥 aligning prior years鈥 work to build connections among protected locations and strengthen arguments for future preservations. Another part of Luna鈥檚 work involves helping to manage the Trust鈥檚 easement program, which allows for perpetual preservation of significant historic structures through donating a portion of the building to the nonprofit.
鈥淭he work around easements involves much research, meaning Alessio is part investigative reporter,鈥 said Melissa Wyllie, Florida Trust CEO and president. 鈥淗e鈥檚 unstoppable, very thorough in research, and a wonderful addition to our team.鈥
As the first intern in the Eleven to Save program鈥檚 16-year history, Luna promotes adaptive reuse, which is maintaining historic buildings鈥 exteriors while replanning interiors to accommodate modern needs, such as housing a CVS Pharmacy within a historic bank. This work, commonplace in areas with strict preservation laws, balances preservation and economic development needs.
For his capstone graduate project, Luna is establishing a Florida landmark designation for the Old Gulf County Courthouse located in Wewahitchka, a small town 30 miles east of Panama City. He updated the courthouse鈥檚 description on the Florida Master Site File, the state鈥檚 online inventory of cultural and historical resources, from a few blurred photographs and an incorrect and incomplete description and history to a detailed and accurate submission, and he's gathered a bulging file of primary evidence demonstrating the building鈥檚 impact on Gulf County and its residents.
鈥I feel a sense of obligation. History is being created daily, and without protection, it will be erased. From a cherished community site to a national memorial, all of it is history. I look forward to uncovering what can be done to preserve it.鈥
鈥 Alessio Luna
鈥淎lessio works closely with Florida communities,鈥 said Kathleen Powers Conti, an assistant professor of history who has mentored Luna throughout his time at FSU. 鈥淗e also advocates for pro-preservation legislation and funding and met with legislators across the state during this year鈥檚 session.鈥
While earning his bachelor鈥檚 degree in communications at Florida Gulf Coast University, Luna volunteered with the Collier County Museums where he was introduced to digital antiquity, the practice of curating physical artifacts online. Later, he worked with the Digital Archaeological Record, a tool for storing and searching digitized artifacts, allowing for mass accessibility while protecting the items from damage or loss.
As a preservationist working with fa莽ade easements 鈥 site exteriors 鈥 digital records are invaluable, he explained. They can, for example, include 3D models of buildings within flood or fire zones or within smaller towns lacking preservation funds, so even if a physical structure is destroyed, historians and communities can still reference a site鈥檚 contribution to Florida heritage.
鈥淎s public historians, we鈥檙e always thinking about how our actions will affect the next generation,鈥 Luna said. 鈥淧romoting digital antiquity protects fragile history and serves future generations of historians.鈥
With a love for his home state and its history, Luna hopes to drive change in public and government opinion regarding conservation鈥檚 importance. He plans to work with statewide and regional preservation organizations following his graduation in 2025.
鈥淪tanding in historic properties, I feel a sense of obligation,鈥 Luna said. 鈥淗istory is being created daily, and without protection, it will be erased. From a cherished community site to a national memorial, all of it is history. I look forward to uncovering what can be done to preserve it.鈥