Ashes, rot, and risk: Peg Leg Pete’s future put on pause

For nearly 50 years, Peg Leg Pete has stood as Fernandina Beach’s most iconic — and most photographed — ambassador of the city. But after decades exposed to the elements, the weathered wooden pirate was at the center of a new kind of storm involving law, liability, legacy, and public trust.

On Thursday night, the Fernandina Beach Historic District Council (HDC) tabled a decision on whether to retire the original 1978 statue, move it to the Amelia Island Museum of History, and install a newly carved replacement created by then-15-year-old local artist Jett Paxton.

What was meant to be a straightforward restoration proposal quickly morphed into a complex, emotional debate. It began with a mystery if human ashes are inside the statue's peg leg and then evolved into questions about safety, interactivity, legality, preservation, and who gets to decide what public art means.

Originally carved by Wayne Ervin using a chainsaw and hand tools in 1978, Peg Leg Pete was crafted from a massive live oak donated by local resident Bob Brown Sr. The statue stood watch over the riverfront before being relocated to the Visitor Center. In the decades since, he’s become an inseparable part of the city’s character.

But HDC members heard how Pete is in visible decline — rotting from within, patched with fiberglass, and at risk of collapse.

 

“The moisture content was as high as 42% in some parts,” said Tammi Kosack, a preservationist and board member who conducted her own inspection with a moisture meter. “When I touched the top of the statue, the probe almost sank through it. This isn’t just weathering — it’s structural failure. I took a series of photos, and I was shocked at the amount of devastation ... he's been improperly maintained, there's big stuff that's been blown into him to fill cracks and that just exacerbates the problem."

 

The city’s 2023 conservation report pegged restoration costs for Peg Leg Pete at $28,000, noting that rot and moisture had compromised the core wood beneath earlier patch work. Despite the costs, some community members still questioned whether enough had been done to preserve Pete properly.

 

“There’s no termite report. No detailed restoration plan. Just vague estimates,” said Jackie Stevenson, a certified property manager with experience in historic districts. “We owe this piece — and this town — (we need) more due diligence.”

 

Tensions spiked when City Attorney Teresa Prince confirmed she’d recently learned of reports that human cremains may be embedded inside the statue.

 

“To the best of my knowledge, there was no formal approval for cremated remains to be placed there,” Prince said. “But I’ve now heard from several sources that there might be. I need to research what state and local law requires in that case. This could change everything.”

 

Local resident Bobby Brown Jr., whose father donated the wood for the statue, pushed back forcefully.

 

“There are no ashes inside,” he said. “My dad put a box in the base with keepsakes, not remains. And he’s the only one alive who was there when it happened.”

 

But Pirate Club President Joe Brown contradicted that referring back to when the club restored the statue several years ago.

 

“There are ashes. I’ve seen them. They’re not in the time capsule — they're inside the statue.” He added that attempts to contact the family involved were unsuccessful.

 

The possibility of cremains raised legal complications for removal, transportation, and even museum display. Prince emphasized that any handling of the statue would now require formal legal guidance.

 

“If there are ashes in there, we have to follow the law,” she said. “That might mean permitting, handling requirements, or even prohibitions on moving it.”

 

Beyond the technical and legal concerns, the debate opened up broader questions: What is public art supposed to do? Should it be interactive? And should it ever be untouchable?

 

“I climbed Pete for the first time this week,” said Kosack. “Kids have been doing it for 50 years. It’s part of the tradition. Is that really a problem, or part of the charm?”

 

Jonathan Wolf, a local artist and history educator, said public interaction is part of what made Pete important. “Art in public spaces isn’t just to be looked at. It’s to be lived with,” he said. “People lean on it, pose with it, climb it. That’s what makes it matter. We shouldn’t treat that as misuse — it’s public ownership.”

 

Julie Ferreira, another longtime resident, agreed: “National parks have cliffs with no fences. We trust people to behave. Why are we treating a pirate statue like it’s a liability grenade?”

 

Member James Pozzetta questioned whether Peg Leg Pete was stable enough not to be a danger to spectators.

 

 "I feel like we need some kind of risk assessment or an engineering study of the existing pirate and the new pirate as far as what's the survivability of these two things long term. What's the risk of them toppling over, etc. We don't really have currently any documentation of what that kind of analysis would show us that might help inform us to what direction we should go," he said.

 

Deputy City Manager Jeremiah Glisson offered more information regarding safety issues.

 

He said the city will conduct a safety engineering inspection Friday by Gillette and Associates to determine if Peg Leg Pete is at risk of cracking and falling off its base potentially injuring passersby.

 

He also recalled a recent near-miss when someone fell backward off Pete’s concrete and stone base during a photo op. “From the (witnessing) police officer’s vantage point, it looked like the person was impaled on the iron fence behind him,” Glisson said. “They weren’t — but it easily could have gone the other way.”

 

That’s why the city’s current proposal before the HDC included a 30-inch aluminum fence and surrounding shrubs. But that solution, too, faced resistance.

 

“That fence is nothing but a tripwire,” said Kosack. “If anything, it makes the statue more tempting to climb.”

 

“There’s no appetite for it (a fence),” added Pozzetta. “I don’t think a fence is the solution.”

 

Paxton’s replacement statue — carved from a 1,000-pound piece of maple and designed to better shed rain — has been completed for two years but remains in storage. It includes structural improvements and a new paint job by local artist Julie Delfs. The Pirate Club has offered to donate it to the city.

 

But the HDC raised questions about its design and durability. The new statue is not a single solid piece — its arms are bolted on separately, which raised concerns about whether it can endure rough Florida weather and inevitable contact with visitors.

 

“We don’t have the specs on how it would be anchored,” said Pozzetta. “We need structural diagrams. Right now, there’s just too much guesswork.”

 

Paxton, now 17, sat quietly during the hearing but eventually addressed the room: “I love the original Pete, too. But he won’t last much longer. I made this with respect — for the statue, and for the city.”

 

 

In the end, the HDC unanimously voted to table the proposal, citing the need for:

• A new engineering assessment of both statues

• Legal research on the remains question

• Detailed anchoring and safety plans for any replacement statue

• Museum confirmation of acceptance and care for the original Peg Leg Pete

• Finalization of the city’s public art ordinance and process

“Until we know what’s really inside, how safe any statue is, and how it’s being installed — we can’t make this decision,” said Filkoff. “And we shouldn’t rush it.”

 

For now, Peg Leg Pete stays put — softened by age, patched and cracked, but still standing.

 

“As a preservationist historian, what I'd like to see is ... is there a way to encapsulate it now so it doesn't continue to deteriorate? And then whatever we do with it ... can we have maybe a historical marker that has the history of this ... because it's part of our recent history," Kosack said.