Friends ofSeagate Inc. was founded in the late 1980s byKafi Benz as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization inSarasota, Florida. Thehistoric preservation group lead local efforts protect historic property in the Sarasota-Bradenton area from commercial development. The group later expanded its scope to include environmental conservation. Its most notable project was the preservation ofSeagate, the former home ofCincinnati, Ohio,industrialistPowel Crosley Jr. and his wife, Gwendolyn, and its later owners, Mabel andFreeman Horton. (Horton was a civil engineer who proposed the construction of the originalSunshine Skyway Bridge acrossTampa Bay.) In 2002 the organization tried to secure Rus-in- Ur'be, an undeveloped parcel of land in the center of the Indian Beach Sapphire Shores neighborhood, as a localpark; however, as of 2014, real estate developers intend to build condominium units at the site.
In the late 1980sKafi Benz founded the Friends of Seagate, a nonprofithistoric preservation organization,[1] to champion the preservation of portions ofSeagate, a historic, 64-acre (26-hectare) property inManatee County, Florida.[2][3][4]
The Friends of Seagate is best known for its efforts to preserve the Seagate estate alongSarasota Bay. The bay-front property was acquired by the State ofFlorida in the early 1990s. The present-day, 16.5-acre (6.7-hectare) Powel Crosley Estate serves as an event rental facility.[5] A 28.4-acre (11.5-hectare) parcel of the property is the present-day site of theUniversity of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus.[6] Seagate's distinctiveweathervane atop it tower was th inspiration for the organization's logo.[citation needed]
Following public acquisition of the Seagate property, the nonprofit organization's objectives expanded to include broader community development, conservation, and preservation issues that involvedg other archaeological, artistic, cultural, built and natural environmental, and historical concerns.[7]Lake Underwood, a patron to Friends of Seagate, provided much of the funding and equipment for the expansion of the organization.[citation needed]
Platted as a residential subdivision named Sea Gate in 1925,Cincinnati, Ohio,industrialistPowel Crosley Jr. acquired the property that became known as Seagate in 1929. Crosley had a two-and-a-half-storyMediterranean Revival style house, built on the site onSarasota Bay for his wife, Gwendolyn, who died there in 1939. Crosley rarely used the home after her death and sold the property in 1947.[2][8][9]
Seagate changed ownership several times, and several unsuccessful plans were submitted for its commercial development, until a local campaign for its preservation resulted in the property's public acquisition. Subsequent owners included Mabel andFreeman Horton, who was a civil engineer who proposed the construction of the originalSunshine Skyway Bridge acrossTampa Bay. The Horton family lived at Seagate from 1948 until 1977.[9][10] TheCampeau Corporation of American purchased Seagate in the early 1980s for development into acondominium project, but the condominium market in Florida collapsed shortly after Campeau acquired the property and the company's plans to convert the home and auxiliary buildings into a clubhouse and headquarters of the development were never realized. However, the company was successful it its efforts to have the Crosley estate was formally added to theNational Register of Historic Places on January 21, 1983.[2][11][12]
In 1990 the State of Florida acquired the property, which was divided into two portions. The bay front residence and 16.5 acres (6.7 hectares) were overseen by Manatee County, Florida. The much larger, eastern portion of the property alongTamiami Trail was overseen byNew College andUniversity of South Florida until their separation and the resulting development of this portion into a new satellite campus for the university.
In the late 1980sKafi Benz founded Friends of Seagate Inc., a local, nonprofit preservation organization, and initiated a campaign for Seagate's preservation. Benz and her group also began a fundraising effort for its acquisition.[13] Benz, the Friends and Seagate, and area residents successfully opposed several proposals for the property's commercial development.[14]
Prior to the property's public acquisition in the early 1990s, the property was assessed for its archaeological, architectural, biological, cultural, environmental, and historical aspects. Dudley E. DeGroot,[15] a member of the Friends of Seagate board of directors, led an archaeological survey of the area that Benz conducted and registered.[16] Jerris Foote, a fellow director with Benz of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation, Inc., also participated in the survey..[citation needed] The archaeological survey was provided to Frank Perkins IV,[17] the Manatee County property appraiser, for inclusion in the assessment and proposal for Seagate's public acquisition.[citation needed]
In 1990 the state of Florida acquired the property, which was divided into two parcels. TheManatee County Commission paid $1.6 million in 1991 for the bay-front residence and 16.5 acres (6.7 hectares) of land, intending to preserve and renovate the property. The present-day Crosley Estate has been restored. It is used as a meeting, conference, and event rental venue. sometimes referred to as the Crosley mansion. The estate is aided by fundraising efforts of theCrosley Estate Foundation.[5] TheUniversity of South Florida controlled 28.4 acres (11.5 hectares) of the property, which it acquired for $2 million for future expansion if a satellite campus for the Tampa-based university alongTamiami Trail.[9]
The design process for the University of South Florida's satellite campus (the present-dayUniversity of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee) was extensive. Kafi Benz participated in a designcharrette that lasted several days, providing tours of the property and suggesting many details to the design team. The location of the campus's three-story building is derived from a plan that Benz proposed, which included use of open space on the parcel of land in order to preserve the uplandsslash pine forest that dominated the eastern portion of the property. Although Benz's initial design plan was built, the university sacrificed the pine forest to reduce costs. Instead of constructing a planned parking facility, the university created surface parking. Except for a small stand in which gopher tortoise habitat existed, most of the mature pine trees were lost to a clear-cut of the land that would become the campus parking lot. A new entrance driveway also divided a small stand of pine trees. The driveway was elevated to accommodate tunnels designed for animals to use to avoid crossing the roadway. The former wetlands on the property was excavated to create a storm-water retention area landscaped to resemble a lake. Oak seedlings were planted in the landscaped islands created among the rows of asphalt. The university projected that it would outgrow the facility within twenty years.[citation needed]
An eagle nest found on the Seagate property was registered through Florida's department of environmental protection. It was designated as nest "Number Nine" for Manatee County after the state completed its assessment. Photographer Arthur E. "Mike" DeLoach, a board member of Friends of Seagate, assisted with the documentation.[citation needed]
In addition, the property was the subject of other environmental studies that indicated the habitat supported two populations ofgopher tortoise; the concomitant animals associated with that habitat, such asindigo snakes; and the registeredeagle nesting site. Other birds associated with the site includehawks,osprey,owls,woodpeckers, and waders, such as theroseate spoonbill. A great rookery of herons and egrets also took advantage of the isolated property.Horseshoe crabs used the secluded beach as a breeding location.[citation needed]
A small portion of the natural habitat remains to the north of the Crosley home, beyond the yacht basin. A narrow beachfront extends into the bay from a steep bank that was enlarged by fill that was dumped from dredges for access to the basin beginning in 1929. Beyond the fill are a few exotic trees introduced for flood control and landscape value, but native vegetation remains among a few invasive species.Longleaf pine as well as second growth slash pine of great age remain in undisturbed areas. Plans for potential use of the remaining portion of the property must be presented to the county government officials for review.[citation needed]
In November 2002 the Friends of Seagate partnered as the nonprofit environmental entity with theSarasota municipal government as the eligible local governmental entity for a grant of $1,505,625 through the Florida Communities Trust's "Florida Forever Program," a state conservation and recreation lands acquisition grant program. The partners intended to hold the Rus In Ur'be property in the center of the Indian Beach Sapphire Shores neighborhood of Sarasota for use as a localpark. The grant request was approved as part of the Series FF2 funding cycle,[18] but the partners were unable to acquire it before the land was sold for private development.[19]
The parcel of more than 11 acres (4.5 hectares) contained a wooded and undeveloped land,wetlands, atennis court, and aSarasota School of Architecture structure that served as a privateclubhouse orrecreationallounge for a bay-front home on Bay Shore Road opposite the property. (The Bay Shore Road home was sold separately from the Rus In Ur'be and held by a real estate developer.) The timber-framed clubhouse ofpecky cypress included aroof with glazed blue Japaneseceramictiles and expansive glass partitions along the westernelevation, facing the tennis courts.
The clubhouse structure and the tennis courts were demolished. The property was subsequently cleared and surveyed, thenplatted for development with single-family homes. A private road was paved through the parcel, but no structures were built prior to the downturn of the real estate market as the speculation boom of the 1990s and 2000s collapsed.[citation needed] Other development projects have been proposed for the vacant parcel of land, but local residents opposed them. Some of the neighborhood residents still wanted the remaining undeveloped property to be a community park; however, a real estate developer purchased two parcels of vacant land in 2014, intending to build single-family homes and condominium units on the sites.[20]
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) See also:Caranna, Kenyn (November 30, 1990). "Eagle Find Has Growth Foes Flying High".Bradenton Herald. Bradenton, Florida: B1.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)