SARASOTA, Florida – A group of boating enthusiasts believes Florida isn’t doing enough to collect, preserve and display Florida’s rich maritime history.
Dating back 7,000 years to the early Native Americans, it’s become a major industry and continues to be a key economic driver. But there are few places in the state to explore that history.
They hope to soon change that.
But the Maritime Museum isn’t proposed along the shimmering waters of the Gulf of Mexico or Sarasota Bay, but five miles inland at Bobby Jones Golf Club.
The board of the Gulf Coast Maritime Museum, a newly formed nonprofit, is slated to ask Sarasota city commissioners on Monday to OK a $1 lease agreement for up to two acres of the city-owned Bobby Jones Golf Course – a course already earmarked for a $15 million renovation project.
Architectural plans drawn up by Seibert Architects call for three 10,000-square-foot exhibition buildings for more than 50 boats. Two 4,000-square-foot buildings would be needed for a gift shop, ticket office and movie theater. There will also be room for workshops, administrative offices and parking.
“The museum will put Sarasota squarely in the ranks of major maritime museum locations in the country,” John Pether, the Gulf Coast Maritime Museum’s secretary, told commissioners last week.
“The Gulf Coast Maritime Museum has no competition, and will attract local visitors and tourists, as well as boating enthusiasts from all over Florida and out of state,” Pether said.
Pether said he anticipates between 50,000 and 80,000 annual visitors. The number, he said, was based on the visitor count to the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature in Bradenton. A maritime museum could bring in about $2.1 million into the local economy, Pether estimates.
Pether’s proposal doesn’t mention the Florida Maritime Museum nestled within the fishing village of Cortez about 19 miles north of Bobby Jones in Manatee County. That museum, run by Manatee County, also provides a look at Florida’s rich maritime history.
The proposed location may meet with some resistance. Last year, city commissioners agreed to shrink the size of the municipal Bobby Jones Golf Club and open the park for broader public use than golf. The property covers 293 acres and the city has selected 47.4 acres of parkland to be used for preservation and recreation.
The design for the new course and park space is still in the works and it might be too early to make certain changes, said Commissioner Liz Alpert.
“I don’t want to do piecemeal bits until we see the overall plan,” Alpert said. “If there’s another place in the city that we can find, that would probably be more optimal.”
Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch pointed to the lengthy process the city underwent to finally settle on a plan to modernize and renovate Bobby Jones.
“Bobby Jones has been through a lot,” said Ahearn-Koch.
“It’s a great idea but I’m not completely convinced that Bobby Jones is the place for it,” Ahearn-Koch said.
In its proposal, the Gulf Coast Maritime Museum identifies the space earmarked for golf. However, it does not say where in the park it would like to build its two-acre museum.
Sarasota is an attractive city for such a museum, Pether said. It’s close to Interstate 75 and is central to the Gulf Coast of Florida. Sarasota also has a rich maritime history.
In 1885 the first Scottish settlers arrived by boat in Sarasota Bay. Bill and Marie Selby loved to fish. John Ringling had a large yacht. The Sarasota Yacht Club had a racing fleet as early as the 1920s, and an active fishing and charter fleet operated from the old Sarasota City Pier until it was demolished in the 1950s.
Major boat builders such as Yellowfin Yachts, Andros Boat Works, Panga Marine, Chris Craft and Ocean 1 Yachts all call the area home.
Sarasota Bay is regularly used for recreational sailing, as well as state, national, and international sailing regattas, as well as offshore powerboat racing. From Venice north to Bradenton, there are six active Yacht Clubs.
The commodores of those clubs unanimously support a Sarasota location for the Gulf Coast Maritime Museum, according to Pether’s petition.
If the City Commission agrees to the proposal, the nonprofit would begin fundraising $5.5 million for construction and endowment funds. Pether estimates it may take up to 2 ½ years to raise the money, which he expects would come from a combination of private donations and Sarasota County bed taxes.
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