Florida Southern College
Icons at Risk
By David V. Griffin | From Preservation | May/June 2008
Frank Lloyd Wright designed 12 buildings on Florida Southern College's campus, the country's largest Wright collection.
Credit: Courtesy Florida Southern College
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.
Read more about Wright's Campus
Comments
Submitted by Jerry Hof at: May 2, 2008
For three years in the '90s I lived directly across the street from Florida Southern (on McCrorie,if anyone knows the neighborhood) and I would spend my off hours wandering the campus,observing the details of Wright's creations.It was like living next door to a rock star or a movie icon.It's a complete collection of his works,employing everything from his Prairie Styles to his fabric blocks and his furnishings.Wright has been one of my personal heroes since I was a kid,and I felt honored to be a part of the neighborhood where all this creativity resided.I was disappointed at how the college trustees had allowed these unique structures to deteriorate,although in recent years some serious attempts have been made to stabilize and repair the place.It is a collection of architectural gems,worthy of landmarking,worthy of a pilgramage by True Believers....