Maitland Art
Center awarded
National Historic Landmark designation in 2014
Second Chance*
National Historic Landmark designation in 2014
Second Chance*
On rare occasions a second chance to grab a missed
opportunity happens successfully. In the
spring of 2009, a tentative agreement to pursue a nomination for National
Historic Landmark (NHL) status for the Maitland
Art Center
was reached between the National Park Service (NPS) and the Maitland Art
Association. Richard Bowzer, a former
trustee of the Art Association, had vigorously championed the goal of NHL
status. Working closely with Paul
Dolinsky of the NPS over many months and raising the necessary funds to prepare
the paperwork, an agreement was reached.
The final agreement, however, languished and was, inexplicably,
never signed by the Art Association. The reasons were never communicated to
NPS. They were understandably frustrated
by the association’s lack of follow-through on completing the agreement, as
well as their lack of communication. The
NHL effort came to an abrupt standstill
until three years later.
Mr. Bowzer related this information, along with much
documentation, to a small but determined group of people known as the “Friends
of the Maitland Art Center (MAC).” They contacted the NPS and were told that there
was a reluctance to restart the landmark process unless a firm commitment from
the City of Maitland, the trustee
of the art center, was made.
In 2012, the Friends of MAC
gathered more than a thousand signatures with which they petitioned the City of
Maitland to pursue NHL. At this point the second chance appeared when
Chris Madrid French, a recent transplant to central Florida,
applied as a historian to Andrea Bailey Cox, CEO of Maitland Art & History
Association. In a stroke of luck, our
communications with NPS revealed that Ms. French was a former NPS employee with
an excellent background in navigating the NHL
nomination process. We were pleased to
present Ms. French to the Maitland City Council as a highly qualified expert
who could prepare the nomination package to the exacting standards required by
NPS. Councilwoman Linda Frosch was so impressed, both with the idea of NHL
status for MAC and Ms. French’s
qualifications, that she led the effort on behalf of the City to restart the
process and obtain funds for the work ahead.
Over the next two years, Ms. French completed a
first-class nomination package which resulted in the NHL
award to Maitland Art
Center in 2014. The public ceremony celebrating this historic
milestone was held Thursday, Jan. 8th,
2015.
The Friends of MAC are
grateful for all those that contributed to this successful second chance,
especially Ms. Frosch for her leadership on the Maitland City Council and Ms.
French for her highly professional efforts.
We hope National Historic Landmark designation will help
provide a much broader scope of funding towards restoration and preservation of
the art center’s historic buildings and grounds and that Andre Smith’s dream of
a vibrant art community within it’s walls will flourish.
Jerry Bell, Spokesman
Friends of MAC
Jerry Bell, Spokesman
Friends of MAC
*An edited version of this letter appeared in the Orlando Sentinel on Jan. 28, 2015 (link below).
Newspaper articles about the NHL status:
Jan. 28, 2015 "My Word Column" in the Orlando Sentinel re. NHL award to MAC
June 25th City Council meeting on MAC NHL Status
6/11/12: Orlando Sentinel piece on Friends of MAC presentation
Info. re. June 11th Council Meeting & Friends of MAC presentation