County Commission agrees unanimously to request
A Sarasota County historical marker describing the history of the Sarasota Audubon Society will be erected “at a publicly accessible location near the Society’s Nature Center” at the Celery Fields, thanks to a unanimous vote of the County Commission on Nov. 4.
The authorization for the initiative was part of the board’s Consent Agenda of routine business matters that day. (The formal vote of approval was 4-0, as Commissioner Joe Neunder was absent.)
A staff memo in the agenda packet explained that Section 66-39(a) of the County Code of Ordinances “authorizes the Sarasota County Historical Commission to recommend and request” that the County Commission “permanently mark significant sites” in the county with markers created under county guidelines.
“Representatives of the Sarasota Audubon Society submitted an application for a historical marker describing the history of their organization, which was founded in 1952,” the memo noted. “The marker is to be two-sided with one continuous narrative across both sides,” the memo added. The nonprofit organization also suggested that the marker be installed “at a publicly accessible location” near the Nature Center.
The Nature Center stands at the intersection of Palmer Boulevard and Center Road, the memo said.
On Sept. 29, the memo continued, “the Sarasota County Historical Commission reviewed the proposed content and location” for the marker and voted to recommend that the County Commission authorize it.
The expense of creating and installing the marker will be about $4,350, the memo pointed out. The funds will come out of the budget for the county’s Libraries and Historical Resources Department, the memo added.
With the board’s vote of approval on Nov. 4, the memo indicated that the department staff would proceed with placing an order with a county vendor for the fabrication of the marker “and begin planning [for] an appropriate ceremony.”
The following is the text for both sides of the marker, as noted in another document in the agenda packet:
