Dunedin, Florida, embraces and promotes its history. To that end, updating and maintaining its century-old brick paver streets is a commitment that pays off.
The City of Dunedin (pronounced dah-NEED-in), Florida, takes its history seriously.
That’s pretty apparent when you look down. In a lot of neighborhoods, you will either see classic hand-made clay pavers 80 or 100 years old, or increasingly, modern-day Pine Hall Brick clay pavers that have replaced them.
That’s certainly the case with the most recent project on Locklie Street. James A. McMullen, owner of Sun Pavers of Florida in Tampa, recently installed a street roughly 250 feet long and 17 feet wide, using Pine Hall Brick Company Rumbled Autumn HD (Heavy Duty) clay pavers.
McMullen says that a fair amount of original brick was taken up and replaced with the “old looking” new clay pavers.
“When they did the repair work, they kept the original bricks they had, and the Pine Hall brick turned out to be a match,” he said. “They are quite happy with the process.”
McMullen says that the city wants to do the job right.
“There is an expense involved, but the durability of the material and the longevity of it pays for itself over time,” he said. “Asphalt is only going to last for so long, and there will be upkeep. I can put clay in and 20 years from now, I will meet up with you and it will look the same way it did when I put it in.”
We found over a few projects that residents like the color and historical aspect.
Dunedin values its history and its charm
Patrick Prusak, who is engineering project manager for the city of Dunedin, Florida, said that the city has an annual budget for replacing the brick streets.
“The street that was slated this year for replacing uses historic bricks, maybe 80 to 100 years old,” he said. “We found over a few projects that residents like the color and historical aspect of the older bricks but in terms of rideability, complain that it is rough.”
Prusak said the solution to the rough ride is to replace the old pavers with new Pine Hall Brick Company’s clay pavers, which have the advantage of looking antique but providing a smoother ride for motorists, along with greater durability. In addition, Pine Hall Brick clay pavers are built to be the same size, which speeds installation.
The pavers turned out not only to be a good match with the originals, but a good fit for the town of Dunedin itself.
Dunedin’s name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It began when Richard Garrison was given a land grant in 1850; later, two Scotsmen, J.O. Douglas and James Somerville named the settlement Dunedin after applying for the first post office in the area.
With a dock built to accommodate larger sailing vessels within the adjoining Gulf of Mexico, Dunedin became an important trading center and at one time it had the largest fleet of sailing vessels in the state.
These days, Dunedin gets more visitors from automobiles than from sailboats, as it has become a destination for both history buffs and baseball fans.
“It is historic in its own right,” said McMullen. “It’s a nice place to go visit old Florida, with beautiful old trees and streets. And it’s where the Toronto Blue Jays have their spring training facility.”
