Florida Southern College
Icons at Risk
By David V. Griffin | From Preservation | May/June 2008
Florida Southern College
Location: Lakeland, Fla.
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Years: 1938-1958
Among America's most significant endangered landmarks, the Frank Lloyd Wright buildings at Florida Southern College, located halfway between Orlando and Tampa, are receiving attention after decades of benign neglect. Wright originally conceived of an 18-building campus, though only a dozen structures were built. Five—the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, three seminar buildings, and the E.T. Roux Library—were built with student labor. The campus features long, connecting esplanades set among orange groves and has a high-pressure water-dome fountain thought to be the largest in the world. Insensitive renovations and Florida's tropical climate have compromised many of the structures. Historic buildings specialist Jeff Baker has completed a master plan for the restoration of the campus, but to finish the work, the college must raise at least $50 million, a sum potentially beyond its reach, despite grants from the state of Florida and the Getty Foundation. Anne Kerr, president of Florida Southern, hopes that a greater awareness of the site will help save Wright's legacy at the college.
Save America's Treasures awarded a grant of $350,000 toward the restoration of the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel in 2008.
Read more about Wright's Campus
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