We need your help NOW!
The Sarasota County School Board is not honoring their 2007 stipulation
to "appropriately rehabilitate" Paul Rudolph's Sarasota High School Addition. SAF requests that the School Board direct Harvard Jolly Architects to revise their plans to incorporate and rehabilitate - not destroy - the significant character-defining elements which are: (i) the floating walkway, (ii) linear light wells and, (iii) the steel door frames. And above
all, include a preservation architect in the design process of the classrooms, locker room building and gym.
A properly rehabilitated architectural treasure is an asset that benefits the entire community. Dear School Board, stop wasting time and money and honor your commitment to Sarasota so that our students can receive the best possible 21st century learning experience.
Send a Letter to the Editor
Email: editor.letters@heraldtribune.com (Type "Letter" in the subject line.)
Online: heraldtribune.com/letters
Mail: Letters Editor, Herald Tribune, PO Box 1719, Sarasota, FL 34230
Letters must have the writer's name, full address and daytime phone number and should be no longer than 250 words. The Tribune may have to condense letters and edit for accuracy. Writers may have one published letter every 30 days. No email attachments please.
Send an Email to the School Board
Sarasota County School Board addresses below.
Example Letter or Email:
I am very concerned with the current construction plans for Sarasota High School’s Paul Rudolph Addition, specifically, the demolition of Building no. 4’s common areas. The loss of the floating walkway, linear light wells, steel door frames and other character-defining elements will forever alter Paul Rudolph’s last remaining public building in Florida. As stewards of this unique, historic structure, you have the responsibility to honor the School Board’s 2007 stipulation to appropriately rehabilitate the Rudolph Addition. Please direct Harvard Jolly Architects to redesign the common areas of Building no. 4 with proper respect for the entire structure. Now is the time to do the right thing.
Thank you for your consideration.
Let’s offer our students the opportunity to learn in one of the
world’s most important and innovative 20th century school buildings that supports 21st century learning.
Yes, we can have it all. Sarasota values our students and our heritage.
School Board of Sarasota County
1960 Landings Boulevard, 3rd Floor
Sarasota, Florida 34231
941-927-9000, ext. 31105
Fax: 941-927-2539
Lori White, Superintendent of Schools, ext. 31105
Lori_White@sarasota.k12.fl.us
Scott Lempe, Chief Operating Officer, ext. 31103
Scott_Lempe@sarasota.k12.fl.us
Jane Goodwin, Chair
Jane_Goodwin@sarasota.k12.fl.us
Shirley Brown, Vice Chair
Shirley_Brown@sarasota.k12.fl.us
Frank Kovach, School Board Member
Frank_Kovach@sarasota.k12.fl.us
Dr. Carol Todd, School Board Member
Carol_Todd@sarasota.k12.fl.us
Caroline Zucker, School Board Member
Caroline_Zucker@sarasota.k12.fl.us
Sarasota High School Paul Rudolph Addition
Recommendations for Effective Rehabilitation August 29, 2012 - The SAF has compiled a report that identifies features and elements that define the essential character of the Addition to Sarasota High School, designed by architect Paul M. Rudolph in 1958-1959. It is the goal of the Sarasota Architectural Foundation to support the efforts of the Sarasota County School District to affect a sensitive and efficient use of this important local treasure for 21st century learning.
Click to download the SHS Rehabilitation Recommendations PDF.
The June 2012 listing of the Rudolph
Addition at Sarasota High School to the National Register of Historic Places was
a perfect follow-up to the unanimous pubic support received for Design
Option 5 at the School Board's June design charrette for the renovation of
the school. Scott Lempe, COO, summarized the key features of
Option 5, that relate specifically to the Rudolph Addition:
- Leave the entryway at the top of the grand stairway of Building 4 open (Building 4 is the classroom building)
- Use the entry to Building 4 as the primary entryway to the campus
- Rehabilitate Building 4 to provide 21st century learning opportunities
- Rehabilitate the West Gym to accommodate the programs currently housed in Building 42 (in whole or part)
As a follow-up to these positive developments, SAF convened a panel of preservation and architectural experts to draft "Recommendations for Effective Rehabilitation" for the Rudolph Addition. These recommendations are based on the guidance provided by the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring and Reconstructing Historic Buildings. The focus of the recommendations is on "Rehabilitation" and working within the key features of Option 5, especially providing "21st Century Learning opportunities" for our students.
We hope that the School Board and the project architects will find this document both constructive and supportive of the project's objectives. To quote from the Standards, "The Standards are neither technical nor prescriptive, but are intended to promote responsible preservation practices that help protect our Nation's irreplaceable cultural resources."
Paul Rudolph's Sarasota High School is now officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
8.4.12 Sarasota Herald Tribune/Real Estate Today by Harold Bubil
The Paul Rudolph-designed addition to Sarasota High School, known as building 4, was built in 1958 and has gained prominence as a significant example of modern architecture from the Brutalist period. Its restoration is part of a campus renovation that is being considered by the Sarasota County School Board.
SAF Board Member Cindy Peterson, University of Florida assistant professor Marty Hylton, Barbara Mattick and Carl Shiver of the Florida Department of Historical Resources worked together to submit the Paul Rudolph, Sarasota High School Addition for the National Register of Historic Places.
FLORIDA, SARASOTA COUNTY,
School Board "Plan Charrette" Details
for Sarasota High School Renovations
What: SHS Plan Charrette
Where: Sarasota County Technical Institute - Conference Centre
4748 Beneva Road, Sarasota, FL
Parking: Access the visitor's parking lot from the Proctor Road entrance. Look for the Conference Center sign on the front of the new SCTI building.
When: June 6 & 7, 5:30 – 8:30 pm
Why: To solicit input from stake holders on how best to renovate Sarasota High School focusing primarily on the west side of the campus
Who: All stake holders (students, teachers, parents, SHS, Alumni, business leaders, local neighborhood residents, preservationists, fiscal watchdogs, SAF members)
Moderator: Dan Bailey
Evening 1: School Board Information and Public Statements.
1) Information share. Bring all stake holders up to speed on what it is the school board is trying to do and the constraints they work within, including a presentation on 21st century learning. At least four possible site plans will be presented and the public will be asked for their feedback.
2) Open Mic. This will be an opportunity for anyone who wants to share a concern or a position to do so. The goal here is to make sure EVERYONE that wants to be heard has a chance to be heard.
Evening 2: Group Findings and Site Plan Consensus.
This will be a more controlled group where every stake holder group has a voice that is heard and no one is significantly over-represented. Attendees will divide up into groups to evaluate the four site plans (and any others that may come out of evening 1) based on a set of criteria. Discuss pros and cons. Then each group will report their findings and rank the plans in order of preference. Groups may be brought together in twos and asked to reach a consensus on their number one and two options. Then there will be a final consensus among all groups. The ultimate goal will be to have everyone on the Charette team sign the selected site plan acknowledging they can support that plan.
Evening 1 will be open to everyone and anyone. Evening 2 will be open as well but participation may be limited so that each group is heard and the process is manageable.
Press Photos
Upon download, please credit photos as noted.
All media inquiries call 202-256-9880 cell, 941-388-2008.
“[Sarasota High School] is intended to suggest the uniqueness of the Florida climate through carefully arranged sun shields and interior ventilating and lighting scopes. Its concrete structural frame is bent in such a way as to create hollow boxes at every bay, thereby accommodating an integral mechanical system. Planes in space which allow the building to be understood from great distances are utilized rather than the linear organizations of earlier buildings. The open-ended aspect of the building allows it to grow: thus the notion that no building is ever fixed and complete within itself is made clear.”
Paul Rudolph in Moholy-Nagy, Sibyl. The Architecture of Paul Rudolph. New York: Praeger, 1970. p. 62.
At a time when designers and architects are thinking more and more about sustainability issues in their practices, they often ignore or are ignorant of the important work done by the Sarasota School in the days when architects naturally built to climate. This case study of Paul Rudolph's Riverview High School and Sarasota High School is a beautiful expression of climate sensitive architecture. The film advocates a thoughtful evaluation of the building and the ideas Rudolph designed into the school such as day-lighting, natural ventilation, sun-screens, and shade-giving plantings. Film by Metropolis magazine and Matthew Kohn
