Here is the letter read to the City of Lakeland Historic Preservation Design Review Committee on January 20th, 2010.

The LMNA opposes the demolition of the house at 840 South Blvd and prefers to see the current owner (St. Joe's Academy / Diocese of Orlando) bring the home up to code and utilize the structure or move the home to a vacant property in the neighborhood.  The historic homes of the neighborhood are non-renewable resources that can never be replaced and should be treated as such.

However, at the January 20th Historic Preservation Board meeting the committee approved demolition of the home and has initially approved a revised design of the park that will go in its place.

Because of LMNA's opposition to the demolition of the home and the 7 month awareness campaign that ensued, the proposed park that will replace the home is far better now than the plan proposed at the July 2009 Design Review Committee Meeting.  Only time will tell what will actually be developed.

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To: Historic Preservation Board, City of Lakeland

ST. JOSEPH’S – 840 South Blvd. Lakeland, FL
January 21, 2010

First of all when I refer to St. Joseph’s hereafter I am also referring to the owner of record-the Diocese of Orlando.
If I may I would like to outline the Lake Morton Neighborhood Association’s position regarding the fate of the historic home located at 840 South Boulevard on the St. Joseph’s Academy property.

It is important to note, for background purposes, that our association met with representatives from the school prior to their occupancy of the property located on South Blvd. and McDonald Street. St. Joseph’s representatives spoke at our monthly neighborhood meeting on October 28, 2008. At that meeting one of our residents – Lisa Horak Malott directly asked the representatives from the church what their plans were for this contributing historic structure. The response at the time was that there were no plans to demolish this building, yet only months later we were notified of their efforts to do just that. When moving into an established historic district, it is important to understand that you, the resident/property owner, bends to the district. It is not the historic district that bends to you. It is only with this understanding that we preserve this unique and important legacy.

In respect to the current condition of the home, unfortunately, much of the home’s current condition is the direct result of the church leadership choosing to remove the tarp that had protected the building from the hurricane damaged roof and thus allowing the ensuing six months of weather to further damage the structure, evidence of their intent to demolish by neglect. Historic structures have shown themselves to be strong and valiant servants, standing not only the test of time but multiple and persistent weather systems. They need only to be maintained to continue their service.

It is the neighborhood association intent to encourage the board to decline the church’s request to demolish this home and to encourage them to find an alternative use for the structure. However, should the Historic Board decide to allow St. Joseph’s to demolish this contributing structure Lake Morton Neighborhood Association would ask that the following requirements are met prior to demolition:

1) that applicant must demonstrate that they have met the requirements of the ordinance and that those satisfaction of requirements be put into the record;
2)  that St Joseph’s place a $50,000 performance bond with the city;
3) That the site plan be approved by all required City departments and that a building permit be issued;
4) That a deed restriction be placed on the property’s title that said property shall remain and only be used as a park with a one story gazebo or redeveloped back to a single family structure subject to the historic guidelines.

We are requesting that this restriction run with the title of this parcel because while we may have the agreement at this time with Mr. Mizerek who currently represents the church, some day in the future the responsibility of his position may transfer to another person that represents the Diocese of Orlando. We would hate to be in the position to find out that once again we were promised something by this neighbor only to be told sometime in the future that they have changed their minds and wish to do something else on this site such as erect a basketball type pavilion like the one on the old campus’ site, which would never be acceptable to our community.

That being said we feel that St. Joseph’s is a beneficial asset to the neighborhood, one that serves its students well and therefore we look forward to a cooperative and long lasting relationship with them as our neighbor.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jim Steinbauer
President
Lake Morton Neighborhood Association