Our Mission is to Preserve and Enhance our Historic Places Through Advocacy, Education, Financial and Technical Tools, and Celebration

The SAHP is a historic preservation advocacy and education 501c3 membership orgnization. We work collaboratively with residents, community organizations, elected officials, and other preservation organizations to help preserve and protect Sarasota County's historic resources. We invite you to read more about our programs, and feel free to contact us if you would like to know more!

On May 6th, the Sarasota City Commission will meet to vote on the demolition of the historic McAlpin House on Cross Street in downtown Sarasota. We need your support to URGE THE COMMISSION TO VOTE 'NO'!

This is a clear example of the obligation of the Commissioners to follow the Municipal Code and protect Sarasota's historic resources and not enrich a developer who only cares about profit! Here's why:

· The McAlpin is a historically designated landmark.

· Knowing this, the developer purchased the property and should have assumed the City of Sarasota would protect it. The City Charter charges the Commission with promoting historic preservation and protecting our historic resources.

· The Developer can still utilize 98% of the land area and +99% of the property’s development potential except for the small piece of land upon which it sits or to which it can be relocated. That leaves nine stories of development rights above McAlpin and the same number of units.

· In exchange for vacating Cross Street and allowing the Developer to build +200,000 more square feet of retail and condos, the City must make preservation of the McAlpin on site a prerequisite for giving it Cross Street!

· None of the applicants’ consultants said the property could not definitively be readily adapted for re-use as a small office or retail space. Nor did they say it was in poor condition or prove that it could adversely affect its profit on the land and development.

· The primary reason given by the consultant to justify demolition was illogical:

“...Although the property no longer retains the historic integrity of setting and feeling as the surrounding built environment has been altered with the construction of high-rise corporate buildings, the building appears to remain eligible at the local level for listing in the NRHP under Criterion C in the area of significance of Architecture....”

The applicant has failed to give the Commission an economic or hardship reason for demolishing a historic landmark. Just that it is inconvenient.

Here are links to email the City Commissioners. The link brings you to a MAILCHIMP site where all you have to do is sign and hit send, or add your own thoughts. THANK YOU!

Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation

P.O. Box 1754, Sarasota, FL 34230 | 941-254-3002