St. Augustine planning board approves Lagasse racing headquarters on San Marco
St. Augustine racer Scott Lagasse Jr. is poised to have a serious presence in downtown St. Augustine.
Plans for the renovation of a 1978 building at 283 San Marco Ave. that would be the headquarters for Scott Lagasse Racing were approved Tuesday at the meeting of the city Planning and Zoning Board.
Not all plans have been finalized, but Tuesday was the first major step toward ultimate approval. The project will also go before the Historic Architectural Review Board.
According to Justin Felker, who was representing Team SLR Tuesday, the building is expected to house offices and garage facilities for the racing operation. Also proposed is a transportation museum that would include items such as antique cars.
The new building will also be a place where they will put together custom-built cars - including road racing vehicles.
"This new facility will allow us to have our marketing people, our race shop, our show car program, and also we're working toward the concept of a museum," said Scott Lagasse Sr., Team SLR president.
The team currently operates out of a hangar at the North Florida Regional Airport, but that was always seen as a temporary solution.
There was a previous plan to build a larger facility in the northern part of St. Johns County, but the location in downtown has turned out to be a better fit overall.
Lagasse was a professional race car driver, running for years in various sports car series.
Lagasse Jr. has been chasing a similar dream since childhood. The St. Joseph Academy and Flagler College graduate has raced in nearly every series in the region as well as other national series, including NASCAR.
"For me, it's really exciting because it's home," Lagasse Jr. said. "We gradually continue to grow, and we think this is going to help the program overall."
Currently, the younger Lagasse is busy in the dirt track scene at places such as Volusia County and Savannah, Georgia. He also runs a limited schedule in NASCAR events, placing third at the NEXTera Energy 250 in Daytona Beach in February. He has run other events in the Camping World Truck Series this year and is scheduled to race in the season finale Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Among the major sponsors for Team SLR are the Boy Scouts of America, Florida Department of Transportation, Bug Out Service and Pinch A Penny Pool Patio and Spa, Action Heating and Air, the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, among others. The business of auto racing is dependent on sponsorships, so Team SLR, like all teams, is constantly searching for successful partnership deals.
Having its headquarters in a prominent location in downtown St. Augustine should be a boost to that effort.
Many think the racing team headquarters can be a lift for the neighborhood, as well.
Mike Davis, president of A.D. Davis Construction Corp., which is doing the construction, said he likes the idea of upgrading the area and drawing some attention to Lagasse.
"It's a chance to put a really amazing building on the north side of town," he said. "It'll give the city a chance to show off a local race car driver at one of the main entry points of our city."
At Tuesday's meeting, PZB members voiced their support of development in that part of town.
"I think it's a huge improvement on this corner," Sarah Ryan said.
Fellow board member Sue Agresta added: "It's a chance to put a really amazing building (there). It'll give the city a chance to show off."