Plan to Save Rudolph Buildings

The following article was printed in the Sarasota Herald Tribune:

Article published Jun 20, 2007

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What: The Riverview Committee is soliciting design ideas to restore the famed Paul Rudolph buildings at Riverview High and create a unique parking deck for the campus. If no proposal is found by March 2008, the School Board will tear down the buildings.

When: The design competition should begin this summer. The final idea should be selected by November.

Information: Contact Les Fishman at 365-4723, or e-mail James Bowen at james@bowenarchitecture.com.

Riverview group seeks champion to save buildings
By LIZ BABIARZ
liz.babiarz@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA COUNTY -- What was once a grassroots effort to save the historic buildings at Riverview High is now an organized movement, looking for a partner with design ideas and funding before the School Board's demolition deadline.

The citizens group Save Riverview Committee recently merged with the Sarasota Architectural Foundation, a nonprofit organization, to form the Riverview Committee.

The 12-member committee will soon host an international competition to find a new use for Riverview High's courtyard buildings, designed by famed architect Paul Rudolph. They are also seeking a design idea for a unique parking solution -- a parking garage with ball fields on top -- that would provide the space for the Rudolph buildings to remain on the campus.

The group hopes to have a winning proposal by November in order to present to the School Board by its March 2008 deadline. If no solution is found, the buildings will be demolished, the School Board has said."It isn't just a design problem; it's a problem of funding as well," said Greg Hall, an Sarasota architect and committee member. "It's a pretty daunting task, but we are optimistic."

The Sarasota County School Board in March agreed to give the group one year to come up with a design plan and the funding, about $20 million, before demolishing the Rudolph buildings as planned to make way for the new school's parking lot.

The resolution came after outcry over the demolition and a three-day workshop, hosted by the National Historic Trust, in which architects, school officials and concerned citizens brainstormed ways to save the buildings without hindering the construction of the new school.Instead of razing the buildings for a parking lot, the group came up with the space saving idea of a parking deck with fields on top so the buildings could remain. And although the group decided the Rudolph buildings could not be part of the new school, they could be renovated for an alternative use, preferably a university that complements the high school.

The committee plans to announce more details about its competition at the end of this month. It will be requesting that firms or developer teams that are interested submit their qualifications. Based on those, by mid-September the committee will select five finalists that will then have three months to submit proposals. Then a jury committee, with public input, will make a final selection that will be presented to the School Board in the spring.At this point, committee members say, the possibilities for the Rudolph buildings are endless.

"It's wide open," said James Bowen, a Sarasota architect who is chairing the Riverview committee. "It could be an organization, a corporation, a university, a building collector. It could be anyone if the idea is right and they are capable.

"Yet as the group is moving forward with its plan, so is the School Board. It recently finalized legal agreements with Sarasota County government, and is moving forward with a land swap with the county, the final steps before construction will begin.

On Tuesday, the School Board also approved the plans for Riverview High's 1,000-seat auditorium and 40,000-square-foot gymnasium. Construction is expected to begin next month on the $19 million structures. The remaining plans for Riverview should be finished by this fall.At roughly $134 million, the Riverview High School project is one of the most expensive in school district history. The School Board has said the district will not pay to revitalize the Rudolph buildings. Nor can the preservation slow down the project, interfere with instruction or diminish student safety.

"They are welcome to pursue any avenue to save the buildings, but the board has nothing to do with it," board member Kathy Kleinlein said.