Keeping Time with William Murtagh

A couple months ago, we posted (March 11) information about the Sarasota Alliance for Historical Preservation meeting that featured a talk by Dr. William Murtagh. Dr. Murtagh is the founder of the National Registrar of Historic Places. He has been known as the "Keeper of the National Registry."

In an interview with him, printed Tuesday in the SHT, he discussed his life long love affair with historical places. He has developed a keen awareness of the relationship of older structures and their ability to speak to future generations about their own time and place. This connection to the past is vital if we are to build upon the best that has come before us.

Murtagh is quoted as saying "I’m appalled at what little attention Sarasota has paid to the concept of preservation. There’s not been much of a sense of community identity and maybe it’s because of the snowbirds; I don’t know. It may also be the problem that they’re older people, and the older people only look upon where they came from as historic." He added "Also, most (real estate developers) are really in the business of making money. I have never seen this to the excess it is in Florida, where people are turning properties on a spade."

Sarasota has organizations that try very hard to preserve the best of our past. We are fortunate to have several organizations that have many dedicated members striving to do just that. However, the pressure of real estate development profits is extremely strong here. Without a commitment of dollars by local governments to save historical places they succumb to the development pressure.

We are getting better at this, but the process needs more help. Opportunities are all around us for involvement - currently a group is working very hard to find a permanent place for the Crocker Church and the Luke-Bidwell House, both important structures with stories to tell about the early days of Sarasota.
See if you can find a way to help. We need to up the ante for preservation.