The cost of preserving LBK history

You can see where this is headed.

A contingent of residents wants to preserve the 1930s-era Whitney cottage on the property of the Longboat Key Center for the Arts. 

Other residents, especially in Longbeach Village, would be thrilled to see the town use its land acquisition funds to purchase the abandoned service station at Broadway and Gulf of Mexico Drive and convert it into a park; a site for the Whitney cottage and Longboat Key Historical Society; and perhaps a visitor center for those crossing into Longboat from the Longboat Pass Bridge.

But as with most things, it’s all about the money. 

The land acquisition fund currently has $594,000 — depleted by $2.2 million recently when the town acquired the Amore Restaurant property. 

There’s not much of a cushion in the fund, although that $594,000 just might be the amount needed to persuade the property’s owner to sell. 

The owner is the J.H. Williams Oil Co. in Tampa, an oil and gasoline distributor that has owned the property since 1981. Obviously, Williams has been in no hurry to sell. He told the Longboat Observer so last year before the ill-fated vote on the proposed hotel for north Longboat Key.  

But at some point, after writing enough property-tax checks for $5,200 a year, and having no credible prospects of a buyer, there will come a day when Williams will sell.

You can count on the town being one of the most likely buyers. Town commissioners seldom can resist the pressures of neighborhoods lobbying for a park. And rare is the Town Commission that turns down an opportunity to buy property with other people’s money. 

Meantime, Town Manager David Bullock has started the process. He told town commissioners last week he would have the property appraised.

As we said, you can see where this is going.

But it’s a dilemma. 

Typically, we balk and choke at the idea of government owning dirt and property. Governments at all levels usually are lousy property managers. 

What’s more, often times the ongoing costs are underestimated. It’s one thing to acquire the property with land-acquisition funds — essentially free money to the town extracted as a ransom and tax on new development. But once a property is purchased, there’s the constant cost of maintaining it. That is passed on to taxpayers.

At the same time, there’s the civic and sentimental side to this — preserving the Whitney cottage and perpetuating the historical story of Longboat Key.

Most everyone would agree it would be worthwhile to preserve and restore the cottage and have a home for the Longboat Key Historical Society. But few, historically, have been willing to contribute the money and time to the historical society. 

Ever since its founding by Fran Mayers, mother of real estate entrepreneur Michael Saunders and her siblings, Joan and Tom Mayers, the historical society has scrambled to stay alive.

For many years, the late Ralph Hunter, founder of the Longboat Observer, sustained the historical society’s collections at the Longboat Observer building, his home and a storage unit. But after Hunter sold the paper in 1995, his interest diminished over time. In subsequent years, Village residents Tom Mayers and Pam Coleman and Chet Pletzke have kept the society on life support.

All of which leads to this: On the surface, all of this sounds like a terrific idea — saving the Whitney cottage; the town purchasing the Williams Oil property; and giving the Longboat Key Historical Society a new home. But all of that requires champions and commitment — Longboaters willing to contribute and raise private funds and volunteer to sustain, operate and grow the historical society.

No disrespect intended, but it won’t work if left to the town and taxpayers.