Arnold Berns helped create Historical Society campus in Sarasota heraldtribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heraldtribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
After the bank failed the building was transformed into the Orange Blossom Hotel, and welcomed guests for many years; today it serves as exclusive Orange Blossom Tower Condominiums. Interestingly the 1920s era Otis elevator is still operational.
One of the threads that runs throughout Sarasota’s history though, is a singular disregard for those places which made this area so unique and desirable.
It does not matter if the site in question is on the Local Register of Historic Places, or the National Register of Historic places.
Nor is it a concern that organizations such as the Historical Society of Sarasota County, the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation, the John Ringling Centre Foundation, the Friends of Friendly Oaks, and STOP form to prevent historic losses. Community outcry has never stopped demolition. The deafness of city leaders underscores the city hall statue by Jack Cartlidge, “Nobody’s Listening.”
That the Crocker Memorial Church still stands is a testament to a small army of volunteers who treasure the history of Sarasota County.
Caretakers of the church built in 1901 are trying to raise $50,000 to supplement the $50,000 on hand so they can begin much-needed repairs on the wooden structure.
Florida’s sun, wind, rain and humidity have taken their toll on the building, which has been moved three times to escape the wrecking ball that has claimed so many of Sarasota’s historic structures.
Marsha Fottler, president of Historical Society of Sarasota County, said she and site manager Linda Garcia knew they faced a challenge when they spotted a mushroom growing on a windowsill inside the church. But addressing that problem was just scratching the surface of the renovations the structure needed.