SIX TO SAVE
Now in its sixth year, this important initiative highlights the urgent need to save historic resources throughout the county from demolition.
This list is a call to action for education and advocacy efforts around the uncertain future of these historic resources. We invite residents and community leaders to be part of a collaborative effort to find alternatives to demolition.
Nominate a restoration project for an award
2025 Six to Save
Spotlighting the most threatened historic properties, archaeological sites, and cultural resources in Sarasota County
Lawyers Professional Building, 1961
2051 Main Street, Sarasota
This Mid-Century Modern building in downtown Sarasota, on the corner of Main Street and Wallace Avenue, was the first built project of Frank Folsom Smith after he opened his own architectural firm.
Located across from the courthouse, the building is organized with lawyers’ offices around a central, open-air courtyard. This one-story building is located in rapidly growing downtown Sarasota in an area where 10 stories are allowed.
2051 Main Street
Sarasota, FL 34236
Architect: Frank Folsom Smith
This place matters because:
Designed by an important member of the Sarasota School of Architecture, the building helped define the look of downtown in the second half of the 20th Century.
Threat:
Development pressure​
HOW TO HELP
SAHP has partnered with the City of Sarasota to create a Historic Preservation Transfer of Development Rights Program. We encourage the current owners to sell their unused development rights -- generating revenue from the value of the lot's density and protecting the historic building in the process.
1225 Fruitville Road
Sarasota, FL 34236
Builder: George W. Barker
This place matters because:
Currently, the property is owned by a developer although no plans for development have been approved. The preservation of this Sarasota Landmark is essential to preserving the City’s development heritage.
Threat:
Development potential​
HOW TO HELP
The house sits on a busy traffic circle that has seen rapid development in recent years. The owner could use the Historic Preservation Transfer of Development Rights Program to sell the property's density value while protecting the house, and restore it to incorporate it into their design for the site. A last resort option would be for the developer to move the house to a nearby lot, make it whole again, and set up a financial endowment to fund its restoration and ongoing maintenance. You can help ensure that City Commissioners and the developer owner are well informed about best outcomes.
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J.B. Turner House, 1912
1225 Fruitville Road, Sarasota
The J. B. Turner House, a 1986 Sarasota Landmark, is one of the last homes remaining from Sarasota’s early development period and one of the few surviving examples of rusticated block construction. The house was constructed in 1912 by local stone cutter and mason George W. Barker. One of Sarasota’s earliest business leaders and aldermen, James B. Turner, purchased the house in 1913.
In 1924, Turner’s oldest daughter Agnes built her home directly across the street. Both homes are all that remain of the original single-family residential neighborhood that flourished along Fruitville Road and are now surrounded by modern development and roads.
Luke Wood Park and the Mable Ringling Fountain, 1931, 1851 Mound Street, Sarasota
Long-time Sarasota residents Luke and Ann Wood donated 12 acres to the city in 1931 and it was used to create a lush park and bird sanctuary. The Mable Ringling Memorial Fountain was constructed in 1936 by the Founder’s Circle and Sarasota Garden Club to honor its first president, who died in 1929.
By 1998, the park was divided by Mound Street, a busy throughway that connects U.S. 41 with Bay Street. The fountain was filled in. In 2011, the SAHP began restoration of the Ringling fountain with support from numerous stakeholders, but the efforts stalled when the city’s utility department declined to maintain the fountain.
1851 Mound Street
Sarasota, FL 34236
Donated by: Luke and Ann Wood
This place matters because:
What once was an urban oasis at the southern gateway to the city is now little more than a memory. City leaders have indicated they have no plans to maintain the fountain or expand the park but may be open to allow community rehabilitation efforts.
Threat:
Passive Neglect
HOW TO HELP
SAHP has kicked off a community-led effort, called Miracle on Mound, that strives to make the park and the fountain once more a point of pride. Supporters can go to miracleonmound.org to be part of the effort to make the park and foundation once again a signature spot at the southern gateway to downtown.
Blackburn Point Road, Casey Key, Osprey
Builder: Sarasota County
This place matters because:
The structure is an increasingly rare example of a swing bridge and an important reminder of early Sarasota County, which is quickly disappearing.
Threat:
Development pressure​
HOW TO HELP
Sarasota County has begun a public consultation on whether to replace or repair the bridge, though county engineers clearly favor replacing it. County residents and Casey Key property owners are encouraged to speak up in support of repairing the bridge, which is likely to be one-third the cost of replacing it.
Blackburn Point Swing Bridge, 1925
Blackburn Point Road, Casey Key, Osprey
The one-lane swing bridge, linking the mainland to the north end of Casey Key, is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the Sarasota County Local Register.
It is the last remaining bridge built as part of the first infrastructure blitz by the newly formed Sarasota County during the 1920s land boom. In 2001, it was decided to carry out a major rehabilitation to extend the bridge’s life by 25 years, at approximately one quarter the cost of replacing it. Debate has begun again over whether to replace the bridge, with the County initiating a study to determine the way forward.
U.S. Garage building, 1924/1984
330 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota
The first garage built for automobiles in Sarasota during the height of the Florida land boom, the building was a showcase of modern commercial architecture.
In 1984, architect Frank Folsom Smith converted the building for office and retail use, retaining original materials and features; it now houses multiple small businesses. The building is occupied and in good condition, but is slated for demolition if a Naples developer is approved to build a multi-building condo complex on a parcel that includes the U.S. Garage site.
330 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota
Builder: Sarasota County
This place matters because:
The U.S. Garage building represents early commercial construction in Sarasota. Its adaptive reuse by prominent architect Smith in the 1980s is an important example of successful preservation strategy.
Threat:
Development pressure​
HOW TO HELP
A Naples developer is proposing to invoke the Florida Live Local Act, which encourages affordable housing, to destroy the historic U.S. Garage and replace it with a 69-unit, 9-story affordable housing apartment building (which must remain as at least 69 units of affordable housing for 30 years) as a way to build a separate, 18-story tower of luxury condos nearby. Whether this proposal to segregate all of the luxury units from all of the affordable units will pass muster remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we urge the City not to allow demolition of this important historic building and to continue its current use as retail and office space.
1677 Hyde Park St., Sarasota
Architects: Joan and Ken Warriner
This place matters because:
The house is an architectural gem in a desirable neighborhood, yet its modest size by today’s standards makes it vulnerable to becoming a teardown.
Threat:
Development pressure​
HOW TO HELP
This Mid-Century Modern masterpiece is for sale and SAHP would be happy to work with a buyer interested in maintaining and restoring it to its full potential.
Warriner Residence, 1961
1677 Hyde Park St., Sarasota
The Warriners, husband-and-wife architects, worked in the office of architect Ralph Twitchell in the 1960s and designed this Mid-Century Modern masterpiece for their family. It won an award as “Record House of 1961” from ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.
Situated on a narrow lot, this 1,600-square-foot house turns it back to the street in order to provide a private oasis behind its façade of rough-sawn cypress slats stained gray. The structure is under threat because its long-time residents, who purchased the house from the Warriners, have passed away and it is now on the market.
