Making sure that Mount Dora’s history doesn’t get paved over. 

Too much of old Florida has been covered over, like kudzu, by rapacious development. In many places around the state, what little of it that still can be found is like an oasis in a shimmering asphalt desert of six-lane highways, fast-food joints, big-box retailers and cookie-cutter houses.

Visitors love Mount Dora for its historic charm. Time slows in the late-afternoon shadows of the Congregational Church (built 1887) and the storefront of The Princess Theater. It deepens in city’s canopy of aging trees.

Preserving that history may be as vital for Mount Dora as conducting festivals year-round or midwifing a commercial district at its fringe where the Wekiva Parkway is set to open in 2020.

Mount Dora’s historic preservation efforts roots back to when it began fading fast. (That’s the trick to historic preservation in Florida, it seems: Nobody has to want your old stuff long enough so that when the preservation gets its very, almost too-late start, there’s still something left to save.)

In the mid-1980s, the Grandview Hotel at Fifth and McDonald was torn down to make room for single-family homes that were never built. Of the five resorts built in the early 1900s, only the Lakeside Inn still remained. Concerned that its historic landmarks were all disappearing, Mount Dora got a matching grant from the state to identify and preserve historic sites as part of its land-use plan.

Apparently things didn’t get much further than the survey, says resident Dave Felts, who was active in preservation effort back in the 1990s.  “When I heard about it, I asked around city hall to find a copy, but nobody had one.” (Eventually he came across it at the Lake County Museum and had copies made.)

Felts was a member of the Mount Dora Historical Society in 1992 when a farmhouse located downtown was slated for demolition to make room for a medical center. The society made a concerted effort to save the 1905 building, which it called the Unity House. The drive was successful and the society got the house moved to a lot next to the W.T. Bland Library. The society also spearheaded the effort to restore Mount Carmel – Simpson Cemetery, located south of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church on Highland Avenue.

It would take a losing fight over another historic landmark in the late 1990s to finally move the city to enact a preservation ordinance.

Roseborough Elementary consisted of five buildings dating back to 1926. It had fallen into serious disrepair, so much so that the school district decided it would be cheaper to tear it down and move in portable classrooms than renovate. Both the city and the Mount Dora Historical Society raised a ruckus, saying that monies could raised to pay for historic renovation.

Twice a demolition order was rescinded, but in 1998 the Board eventually refused to negotiate further, on the grounds that there was no feasible and prudent alternative to demolition. One of the buildings was saved from the wrecking ball and is now used for the private elementary Montessori at Roseborough.

Perhaps losing the other buildings was a noble sacrifice, because outcry from citizens led to the creation in 1997 of the Historic Preservation Board (HPB) and the Historic Preservation (HP) chapter of the Land Development Regulation.

Assistant planning manager Gus Gianikas provides city staff support for the historic preservation board, as well as oversees the city’s two community redevelopment agencies (CRAs).

“Originally the historic preservation regulations applied only to non-residential buildings,” he says, “but voters within the district passed with a 70 percent majority a referendum in November 1997 to include residential buildings.” The city’s historic district includes an area defined by Alexander Street, Baker Street, Clayton Street, Donnelly Street south of 11th Avenue, and First Avenue through Tenth Avenue.

Mount Dora’s ordinance was written from a template from Federal Secretary of Interior standards for historic preservation. Its stated goals are to identify, preserve and enhance historical structures; enhance property values and value of the city to visitors; encourage new structures in harmony with existing historic structures; help property owners become eligible for tax incentives for historic preservation; preserve the city’s cultural history; and enrich the lives of citizens by fostering knowledge of the living heritage of the past.

To achieve this end, a historic preservation board was created. Comprised of seven volunteer residents or business owners doing business in the city, the committee is tasked with maintaining an updated survey of historic structures, nominating properties for designation as historic sites or inclusion in historic districts, and acting as the city’s regulatory body—approving, denying or modifying any requests to demolish or renovate structures within the historic districts.

Any changes to a structure within the historic district requires approval by the historic preservation board. The requestors fill out a certificate of appropriateness application and submit it to the city’s Planning and Development Department. Gianikas prepares background for the committee, pulling relevant information from historic surveys and making a tentative recommendation based on criteria set by the ordinance.

A book called The City of Mount Dora Historic Design Guidelines contains everything about the repair, restoration, rehabilitation, and maintenance of historic buildings in the City of Mount Dora.  The book identifies many of the historic architectural features found on buildings in Mount Dora, and describes how to properly maintain, repair, restore, and even alter them so that the building design, materials, and workmanship can be preserved.  (Copies are available at City Hall for $20.)

The committee meets once a month to review the applications. Structures are first evaluated for their historic significance and then modifications are reviewed, with special care for any changes that would be visible from the street. Other historic structures in the vicinity are also taken into consideration. If the committee feels that that proposed changes are not in keeping with the city’s ordinance, they may deny the request or ask for further modifications.

In 2006, review of new construction was added to the duties of the historic preservation board. This was done because there had been some new single family homes being constructed that were out of character with the surrounding buildings.

Also in 2006, the definition of and historic building was changed to any building constructed prior to 1956.  Prior to that, it was any building 50 years or older, which meant that eventually house built in the ’60s and ’70 without much historic character would have been added to the list.

Historic buildings surveys were completed in 1987, 1998, 2008 by preservation consultants.  This background is used when reviewing all applications for

COAs and Historic Markers. If you’re curious about the history of your house, site files from the surveys are available for review at the W.T. Bland Library.

Own a historic building that you’re proud of?  The Historic Marker Program identifies those buildings of either historical or architectural significance that illustrate Mount Dora’s history and architecture. It also encourages the restoration and maintenance of historical properties located in Mount Dora.  There’s no cost for either the application or the historic marker plaques. Applications for the Historic Marker Program are submitted by the property owner.

Using the federal grants, the city applied for National Historic District status, and in 2010 the application was improved. “The process took three years to complete, but it was worth it,” Gianakis says. “It doesn’t really add any teeth to the preservation ordinance, but it does bring more recognition for Mount Dora as a place with lots of history.”

Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives are available for historic preservation—a 20% for a certified rehabilitation of certified historic structures, and a 10% credit for the rehab of a non-historic, non-residential building built before 1936.  The downside is that the building can’t be a primary residence. Details are available on the Historic Preservation page of the city’s website.

If you want to see Mount Dora history firsthand, a Historic Tour Map is available on the city’s website, with photos and addresses of historic properties.  Markers providing background information can be found in front of many of the city’s prominent historic properties, including City Hall, the old post office, in front of the Lawn Bowling Association, as well as a new one at Ninth and Fourth.

And while you’re touring our history, be sure to visit the Mount Dora Historical Museum is housed in the city’s first fire station and city jail, built in 1923. It highlights activities in Mount Dora from the 1880s to the 1930s. The museum is located at 450 Royellou downtown and is open Tuesday through Sunday 1-4 p.m.

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All around Florida, cities have tried to preserve their heritage through similar preservation efforts. The State of Florida offers considerable support and guidance, as does the federal government.

Whatever the protections, however, development is always challenge for historic preservation. (This is Florida.)  In many cities, the threat is not so much from development from without as from within, as the value of properties often increases more than the old houses they sit on.

In Fruitland Park—where the Villages will add 2,050 homes and 4,000 new city residents this year alone—the city wants to build a 12,000 square-foot library next to City Hall with room for concerts, art shows and community festivals. Standing in the way, however is The Casino, a Cracker-style wood-frame meeting hall built in 1914 by George Clark, one of the city’s founders. The city’s historical society, founded just last year, announced that its first project would be to save The Casino, and tried to get it on the National Register of Historic Places. The city looked at moving the building and renovating it; but when they got a look at the estimate of $450,000, instead they approved a contract to demolish the building. In the end, the Fruitland Park Historical Society capitulated to the city. Barring the slight chance of legal action taken by heirs to the property, the city will demolish The Casino as soon as next February.

The problem of development from within is especially true in Winter Park, where land values are extreme and McMansions are popping up across the city. In 2001, the Gamble Rogers-designed Casa Feliz mansion was headed for the wrecking ball in order to make room for a new house. The city had no historic preservation ordinance, and it was only through the grace of a bald eagle nest right next door to the property that halted some of the demolition (the garage and kitchen had already been torn down) long enough for residents to raise money to have the building moved some 300 yards away. Casa Feliz now serves as a museum.

About 15 percent of some 129 historic Winter Park structures have been demolished since Casa Feliz made its trek. The city passed a preservation ordinance in 2006, but many citizens felt it didn’t go far enough. Under its provisions, in order for a neighborhood to apply for historic district status, 66.7 percent of the property owners have to agree—the highest approval threshold in the state.

At a Winter Park city commission meeting just this past Nov. 9, commissioners decided to make preservation easier by reducing the threshold of passage to a simple majority of 50 percent plus one. They also rejected an amendment that would have allowed any homeowner in a historic district, including a historic home, to opt out of the district’s preservation standards. Opinion in the city is still divided between those in support of private property rights and those who feel the city’s history should be preserved, so Winter Park’s preservation story is far from over.

Here in Mount Dora, the biggest current story in preservation has to do with plans to use the Tremain Street railroad trestle (built around 1887) and US-441 rail  overpass as part of the proposed 15-mile Lake Wekiva Trail connecting Mount Dora to the Seminole-Wekiva Trail at border of Lake and Seminole Counties.

A concrete apron would need to be laid over the top of the trestle, as well as some other structure to allow bikers and walkers safe passage over the bridge. A design had been approved by the state, but now the US-441 railroad overpass is under scrutiny because there may not be enough clearance under it after expansion work on US-441 in advance of the coming Wekiva Parkway interchange. The State of Florida is heavily involved in this part of the planning and approval, so the fate the Tremain Street trestle has gone uncertain again.

The State of Florida has expressed clear support for historic preservation. Stature #267.01 states, “The rich and unique heritage of historic properties in this state, representing more than 10,000 years of human presence, is an important legacy to be valued and conserved for present and future generations. The destruction of these non-renewable historical resources will engender a significant loss to the state’s quality of life, economy, and cultural environment.”

The economic impacts of historic preservation are strong—historic preservation projects create jobs, make a substantial contribution to state and local taxes, attract tourist dollars, create a greater sense of place for Florida communities, and help to maintain strong property values.

And yet, preservation is a laborious process, contending not only with the economics of fast-buck development but also a wavering attention span. Far more urgent projects are on city government’s to-do list. The job of preservation can get passed around. After the Historical Society got the Unity House was moved next to the library in 1993, it then focused its efforts on its Historical Museum downtown. The building fell into disrepair and was deeded back to the city in 2009. Seeing an opportunity for use of the building, the Mount Dora Library Association then raised $20,000 to restore it, and it was renamed the Simpson Farmhouse (after original owners Charles and Alfida Simpson) and is now used by the Library for meetings.

Preservation’s job doesn’t stop at any border, either. There are historic buildings outside the city’s historic district that deserve attention, such as Witherspoon Lodge in the northeast community. Nor does it limit to historic buildings. Some feel that the city’s tree canopy—the most regal part of it, anyway—should also be included as historic monuments.

All that said, things are in pretty good shape for Mount Dora’s historic district, says Gianikas. “Fortunately, people who move here have an appreciation for old buildings,” he says. “They like the connection it gives them to the past.”

As Mount Dora continues to change at its edge, it will be interesting to see how well its center will be able to maintain the vital linkage to its past.

David Cohea, Writer (david@mountdoracitizen.com)

Note: David Cohea is a citizen member of the City of Mount Dora’s Historic Preservation board.