Cracker Concert at the Crocker!!!

2005-09-18T08:42:00.000-04:00

Help by writing letter of support

2005-05-27T11:16:00.000-04:00

TO: Elected Officials, Friends of History and Historic Preservation

FROM: Arnold Berns, President, and the Board of Directors of the

Historical Society of Sarasota County, Inc.

P.O. Box 1632, Sarasota, FL 34230

RE: Need your Letter of Support

for Florida Division of Historical Resources, Historic Preservation, Special Category Grant for "The Bidwell-Wood House and Crocker Memorial Church"

The Historical Society of Sarasota County needs your help. We are applying for a Special Category grant from the Florida Division of Historical Resources for $275,000. Also we have already received early support through a challenge grant from the Selby Foundation and some financial pledges and donations from local citizens for the project. We need you to write an official letter that briefly expresses your support of the relocation and restoration of the Bidwell-Wood House and Crocker Memorial Church and that encourages the Division of Historical Resources to provide whatever funding is available to ensure the success of the effort.

These are two of the most historically significant and designated structures in Sarasota County and City of Sarasota--the Bidwell-Wood Residence (circa 1882, the oldest standing structure in the county) and Crocker Memorial Church (circa 1901, one of the most important original churches of Sarasota's founding fathers.)--and we are proposing to move and restore them at the City of Sarasota's Pioneer Park, located next to the Whitaker Cemetery at 12^th Street and Cocoanut Ave.

Although our grant proposal is due May 31, 2005 we can submit your letter of support after the deadline. We ask that you address your letter to: Mr. Robert Taylor, Division of Historical Resources, Grants and Education Section, 500 South Bronough St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250 but mail your original signed letter to the Historical Society of Sarasota County Inc. at P.O.Box 1632, Sarasota, FL 34230, Attention: Grants.

This project began with the City of Sarasota's approval of a mixed use development in January 2005 and the generous offer by the current owners, Father James and Mrs. Nikki Nilon of the Throne of Grace Charismatic Episcopal Church, to donate the two buildings to the Historical Society of Sarasota County Inc. for preservation if, a location could be found and funds secured to move both buildings to a suitable place and not separate them. On the recommendation of the City's Historic Preservation Board, the Sarasota City Commission voted unanimously on March 21, 2005 to move the buildings to the recreational/open space Pioneer Park if the Historical Society could gain the funds and approvals for the project.

The state grant funds will be used for site preparation, the relocation of the Bidwell-Wood House and Crocker Church, and restoration of the buildings to return them to public historical use as the locally important significant resources they are. Points to be made in your letter might include the following, just as suggestions.

--Rescue these buildings and rehabilitate them to preserve two of Sarasota's historically designated structures.

--Return the Bidwell-Wood House to public use as a testament of Sarasota's pioneering spirit and history--with interpretive exhibits, artifacts, educational programs to inform residents and visitors about family life in the oldest residential structure in Sarasota County; It will be the only publicly accessible residential historical building in the city; A way to share our Florida heritage with future generations through educational programs and tours.

--Restore the Crocker Church, one of the oldest religious structures in the county, to its rightful use as a public meeting place and event venue for private and public, cultural and Florida heritage events such as weddings, history fairs, reenactments, craft demonstrations.

--We are concerned about saving historically significant buildings in the current frantic pace of development in downtown Sarasota.

--Create a sustainable tourist site—one that preserves and conserves the resource. This project would offer a quality learning experience for visitors and residents, to provide a more intellectual and educational travel experiences for cultural and heritage travelers.

Please write your letter from your viewpoint or that of your organization. We thank you in advance for your assistance in this important community project. If you would like to make a contribution or discuss the project, please feel free to call Arnold Berns at 941-924-5224 or our grant writer Kathie Moon at 941-377-0878 if you have questions.

Welcome to Historic Sarasota

2005-05-25T12:30:00.000-04:00

Since becoming the Correspondence Secretary for The Historical Society of Sarasota County's Board of Directors, I have been looking for an interesting way to communicate to the folks who are not members of this society. Well...a BLOG seemed like an interesting idea. So here it is.

Please feel free to comment about anything as we are interested in all things historic and, if you take "history" to mean everything that happened before this point in time we so niavely call now, then of course everything works...

Of course we would love to hear about Sarasota history and especially those things that have had some significant impact on the Sarasota culture...but whatever. You never know what will end up being history. Look at the zipper. Who'd a thunk?

2005-05-25T09:56:00.000-04:00

Through the Portals of the Past We View the Future