By Lorrie Muldowney
Guest Columnist
In a Sarasota that is changing rapidly, how do we preserve?
Fifty years after the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), many of us may recall images of bulldozers sweeping away iconic buildings, such as New York’s Pennsylvania Station in 1963, and even this year, the loss of the Bellview Biltmore Resort and Spa near St. Petersburg.
Despite the long-established preservation movement, threats to historic buildings are many and varied, and most historic sites become threatened long before the bulldozer arrives.
As chairperson of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation’s committee on endangered buildings, I work with preservationists from around the state to evaluate threats to historic buildings and formulate ideas about their preservation.
The Venice Train Depot after its restoration in 2003. The building had been in poor condition. Herald-Tribune archive.
Often, the problem could be called “demolition by neglect,” the most common reason that historic buildings are lost. Buildings may become less useful, such as was the case with the 1927 Venice Train Depot. As passenger trains service went away in 1971, so went the building. It fell into disrepair, finally abandoned when the circus left town in 1992.
Or the land much more valuable than the structure, as happened with the 1925 John Ringling Towers/El Vernona Hotel. The land on which this iconic building sat is now occupied by the parking garage at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota.
In Melbourne, the historic high school building was demolished recently. It was declared unsalvageable by local officials after standing empty for many years.
But there are successes in the preservation effort. Boynton Beach High School, threatened by an insensitive addition and demolition, will be preserved and adaptively reused. In Orlando, the most historic portion of Tinker Field, a baseball park that opened in 1914, was preserved for public use.
Preservation architect Linda Stevenson's resume includes working in the restoration of the Venice Train Depot in 2003. Herald-Tribune archive.
The Venice Train Depot before its 2003 restoration. Herald-Tribune archive.
And in Venice, the old train depot found new use after a 2003 restoration.
The Florida Trust looks for other opportunities with its annual list of the “11 Most Endangered Historic Sites.”
In Sarasota, a nonprofit foundation created to “Preserve Victor Lundy’s South Gate Community House” is fighting a threat to its building, despite consistent maintenance over the years.
The foundation submitted a successful application for “Most Endangered” list because it lacks the funds to cover big-ticket items, such as the replacement of rusting structural reinforcements and roof improvements at the 1956 “Sarasota School of architecture” pavilion.
Timely completion of these improvements will protect the building from the threat of demolition by neglect.
Another Sarasota property, the El Vernona/Broadway Apartments, also known as the Belle Haven, at 1133 Fourth St., was placed on the Trust’s most-watched list, although the Sarasota Quay development team has said it will be preserved in its current location. This is a list of historically significant properties that are considered at risk, often because of extended vacancies and limited maintenance.
McClellan Park School was built in 1916 as the neighborhood clubhouse. At age 100, the structure's future is uncertain. Staff photo Harold Bubil; May 2016.
Other structures in Sarasota could be added to this list. The McClellan Park Clubhouse being a notable example. Built in 1916, it later served as a school, but has now stood vacant for a decade.
In 2015, Miami’s Little Havana / Riverside neighborhood was listed as an endangered site because of the threat of more intense zoning. The neighborhood has been described as one of the most significant urban enclaves in the United States and a contemporary symbol of the American melting pot because of its status as a safe haven for immigrants.
The neighborhood remained on the Florida Trust’s Endangered Sites List this year because tools to preserve it, such as the establishment of historic districts, have not been fully implemented. Many places remain on the endangered sites list from year to year, evidence of the complex nature of historic preservation.
To many, the outcomes are worth the wait.
A half-century of preservation
The 1966 passage of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) has led to the listing in the National Register of Historic Places of 1.4 million sites in almost every U.S. county.
The idea that the NHPA was necessary came from a report titled “With Heritage So Rich.” It was prepared by the Special Committee on Historic Preservation, created by the United States Conference of Mayors. Carl Feiss of the University of Florida was one of only eight contributors to a document that changed our nation’s way of thinking about the importance of preserving cultural resources.
Copies are online at http://preservation50.org/about/with-heritage-so-rich/
The NHPA states that “The historical and cultural foundations of the Nation should be preserved as a living part of our community life and development in order to give a sense of orientation to the American people . . . the preservation of this irreplaceable heritage is in the public interest so that its vital legacy of cultural, educational, aesthetic, inspirational, economic, and energy benefits will be maintained and enriched for future generations of Americans.”
The act established a national historic preservation program that includes mechanisms for the identification and documentation of significant sites, the requirement for the federal government to take into account the effects of its undertakings on historic and cultural resources, grants and an advisory board on historic preservation.
The 1956 South Gate Community House is a glass pavilion designed by Victor Lundy. A foundation has been formed with the goal of rehabilitating the structure. The structure has been named one of the state's 11 "most endangered" historic sites for 2016 by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 8-7-2015.
Despite its widespread impact, the NHPA was never intended to provide total protection to cultural resources. Particularly on the local level, this protection falls to the will of the community and inevitably requires a dialogue about growth.
In the 50 years since the passage of the NHPA, communities across the nation have grown more sophisticated in their understanding of the value of historic preservation. A 2010 study on the Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation in Florida completed by the Center for Governmental Responsibility at UF’s Levin College of Law stated that the positive impacts to the economy of the rehabilitation of historic buildings, heritage tourism, the operation of history museums and activities generated by the Florida Main Street Program contribute $6.3 billion annually to the state.
Preservation is sustainable and promotes diversity, two values important to millennials, the next generation of preservationists, according to Mark C. McDonald, president of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.
His opinion is supported by Smart Growth America, a coalition of nearly 100 advocacy organizations that have a stake in how metropolitan expansion affects our environment, quality of life and economic sustainability. Smart Growth believes that “many of the most impressive examples of revitalization around the country, whether urban downtowns or rural. Main Streets, have had the preservation of historic architecture and character at their core.”
The National Trust for Historic Preservation celebrates Historic Preservation Month each May. This year, a campaign titled “This Place Matters” that encourages people to celebrate the places that are meaningful to them and to their communities. To hear these stories, visit www.thisplacematters.org.
Perhaps as a community, there is still time to write a few stories of our own.
— Lorrie Muldowney, AICP, Assoc. AIA, is a trustee of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation
