The grandest building in Tampa Heights, Michigan Avenue Grammar School, opened its doors in 1906. Strategically located between Tampa’s Spanish, Cuban and Italian immigrants in Ybor City and the Anglos in Tampa Heights, this school welcomed a diverse population and helped build community.
For the next 111 years, up through its most recent incarnation as the Lee Elementary Magnet School, the impressive brick building with the classic cupola on top continued to serve the same purpose: educating young students from different backgrounds.
Then, on September 13, after Hurricane Irma hit Tampa, the surge of power when electricity was restored to the school caused a fire in the attic. Firefighters succeeded in putting out the fire, but the school was severely damaged. News reports used words like ”destroyed.”
But Tampa Heights’ grand dame ain’t down yet. This school can and must be restored.
The Tampa fire marshall reports that the school’s structure is good overall. The first and second levels were damaged by water, but not by fire. Ultimately the Hillsborough County School Board makes the final decision about what level of investment to make in this historic building; our community must educate them about the critical need to preserve and reconstruct this school.
Lee Elementary is honored with a listing on the National Register of Historic Places and by the City of Tampa’s historic designation. The State of Florida’s master site file says, “In a community noted for its architecturally significant public school buildings, this building ranks as the finest lower school in Tampa.”
Dennis Fernandez, manager of architectural review and historic preservation for the city of Tampa, identifies Lee as the “premier building in the Tampa Heights Historic District.” He is also advising the school staff on the importance of selecting professional engineers with a historic preservation background.
Preservation of Lee is vital to Tampa Heights, says Patrick Thorpe, vice president of the American Institute of Architects Tampa Bay Chapter and a teacher in the Architecture in Education Program at the school. He’s the director of the Tampa Bay Foundation for Architecture & Design initiative, representing community support for the restoration of the school, and he does not mince words: “Losing the historic designation of this structure will set a dangerous precedent that could jeopardize the district as a whole and bear negative long-term economic effects throughout Hillsborough County.”
Generations of children have marched up Lee’s grand entry staircase and skipped along the polished floors of the high-ceilinged hallways, lit by transoms over the individual classrooms. Today’s students have been temporarily relocated to Lockhart Elementary’s modern sterility and are eager to return to the school they know, with its inimitable ambience and patina.
Taryn Sabia is the mother of two Lee students and director of the Florida Center for Community Design. She passionately believes in rebuilding the school. “This Tampa Heights school is attracting young professionals with children who want a great neighborhood elementary school. It serves as a magnet for the redevelopment Tampa is seeking!”
The school board has a mixed record when it comes to investing in its inventory of historic properties. The “winners” which have been restored include Hillsborough and Plant high schools, Gorrie, Roosevelt and Mitchell elementary schools and Wilson Middle School. The losers — Washington Junior High, the original Blake High, and Gary School — have been demolished, and with them irreplaceable history.
When I was a young city planner, Gorrie Elementary was slated to be torn down and turned into additional parking for Wilson Junior High. In 1976, the school board assumed that Hyde Park was too dilapidated to attract young families and any new schools were going to be built in the booming suburbs.
I attended their meeting and swore that Hyde Park would rebound and that Gorrie would be needed for the children moving to the neighborhood. A decade later it was bursting at the seams. A good neighborhood school is a powerful catalyst for the revitalization of a neighborhood.
When energized parents and neighbors speak up on behalf of their school, their political will makes the difference. If the Tampa Heights Neighborhood Association teams up with the AIA and the Lee Elementary PTA there might be enough juice to get the school board to rebuild this special place and our entire community would benefit.