City seeks to save its history

Preservationists urge designations

FORT LAUDERDALE – Growth is putting a squeeze on the city’s past.

Preservationists want to step in before much of the city’s history is lost to redevelopment. They’ve identified scores of older buildings to be designated as historic, which limits the changes that could be made to the structures.

But owners of those sites bristle at attempts to interfere with their property rights. And developers interested in a site say a historic designation adds a layer of government bureaucracy that can complicate or block their plans.

The conflicts could become more intense, because the buildings most suited for historic designation are likely to be found in the hottest markets for development — downtown and the beach.

Historic designation applications can be made by third parties over the objection of a property owner, which has led to some recent battles:

• First Evangelical Lutheran Church. The commission is considering a request from a private individual, Robin Haines Merrill, to give historic status for the church, formerly the city’s first Roman Catholic church. Its 1922 Romanesque stone facade was moved piece by piece in the 1940s from the original church on Las Olas Boulevard and recreated at Northeast Third Avenue and Fifth Street. A developer is offering to save the building as part of a large residential project, but objects to a historic designation.

Towers Apartments

building. The 1925 Mediterranean Revival structure on Southeast Second Street by famed architect Francis Abreu received protected status in 2015 after it was requested by the Broward Trust for Historic Preservation. The owner, who wants to redevelop the current retirement home into a high-end assisted living facility, is challenging the city’s action and seeking relief through a state-sanctioned process.

• Casa Alhambra, Villa Torino, Alhambra Beach Resort. These three pre-1940 beach buildings used to be on Alhambra Street near the Casablanca Cafe, but were demolished in the past two years. The commission rejected historic designation for two of them by nearby residents and Casa Alhambra was knocked down before a hearing could be held. A proposed hotel on the three adjacent sites has not moved forward.

Preservationists would prefer that the city determine which buildings deserve historic designation, instead of relying solely on applications. The city just hired a historic preservation planner — its first in more than five years — who could work on that task.

The city should start by focusing on a handful, former Commissioner Tim Smith said, the ones that make you say, “Boy, these are important to our soul, to our future.”

Vice Mayor Dean Trantalis said if the city was proactive in deciding what deserves designation, then property owners and developers would not waste money designing projects that won’t fly.

“We don’t want to have to keep ambushing developers,” Trantalis said.

Steve Glassman, president of the Broward Trust for Historic Preservation, said the city needs to create rules that prevent property owners from demolishing or altering a building when a historic designation application is pending. That would have stopped Casa Alhambra from being knocked down or First Lutheran’s stained-glass windows from being removed.

Commissioners put off voting on the historic designation of the church until May 2 because developer Itay Avital said he’s willing to save the building. Glassman said without the designation, a future owner could make changes or get rid of the building.

Trantalis just wants to be fair.

“I want to make sure if we do designate it ... the burden isn’t so onerous that it becomes impossible to give it a re-purpose or to enhance its current purpose without [the owner] going through extraordinary expense,” he said.