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Preservationists try to protect Biltmore

Renewed interest by the developer that planned to raze the resort leads to local offers, including $40-million.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published April 17, 2005

	[Times photo: Scott Keeler]
	Guests mingle in the long main hallway of the historic Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa. The interior of the resort has many ornate glass, wood and brass designs. It was opened in 1897 by railroad tycoon Henry Plant.

BELLEAIR - Two former candidates who lost bids for the Town Commission assembled a team that offered more than $35-million to save the Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa.

But the resort's owners, Urdang & Associates, a Pennsylvania investment management firm, did not accept the bid, said G. Michael Harris and Rae Claire Johnson, who were defeated by incumbents in their recent runs for the commission.

On Monday, a development officer for DeBartolo Development, which wanted to raze the Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa last year, said the company has the property under contract again. DeBartolo, along with two other development firms, initially tried to purchase the property in November. That deal fell through because it lacked public support, company officials said.

Neither Urdang & Associates nor DeBartolo Development revealed details of the contract last week. No plans or demolition applications were submitted to Town Hall as of Friday afternoon.

Harris, who was defeated by Mayor George Mariani, said the candidates did not make an offer themselves but introduced key players from Belleair and Clearwater who had the money and a plan to preserve the public areas of the resort, such as the Tiffany Ballroom, Starlight Ballroom, Candlelight Room and Belleair Room.

Harris said the plan would have also rebuilt portions of the hotel as hotel-condos, matching the current style of the resort. Condo-hotels are typically sold to individual owners and rented for part of the year as hotel rooms.

Neither Harris nor Johnson would name the players.

"With their reputation, there would be no question whether they could do the deal. They have a lot of experience in condos, high-rises and residential developments," Johnson said.

Harris, Johnson and Rob Bender ran for the Town Commission on a preservation platform, and their group made an offer on the Biltmore after they were defeated, Johnson said.

Johnson, who is a point person for the local preservation effort, said she now has financial backing to make a $40-million offer on the property, thanks to another developer, who has agreed to secure a loan and help develop the property to conform with the vision of preservationists. She would not name that developer.

The offers are among a few local proposals and numerous efforts to save the resort, opened by railroad magnate Henry Plant in 1897.

Johnson has partnered with St. Petersburg Preservation Inc., a nonprofit group that restores and rehabilitates historic sites, and Diane Hein, who started a Web site called savethebiltmore.com. The site, which has a message board and tips for people interested in preserving the hotel, has had about 700 hits since Tuesday.

Bill Stokes, a board member of St. Petersburg Preservation Inc. who contacted Johnson, said the resort is one of the last remaining grand hotels, significant to Florida, and national, history.

"This is a national preservation travesty. It's a loss of history that would be irreplaceable. It's unconscionable that this structure would be in jeopardy," Stokes said.

Originally known as the Belleview Hotel, it became the Belleview Biltmore in 1919.

When the hotel opened in 1897, many of the guests from Northern cities arrived at the Belleview by private railroad cars on tracks that ran to the hotel grounds.

After Henry Plant died in 1899, his son Morton took over the hotel, and in the early 1900s the resort became known as the White Queen of the Gulf after Morton decided to paint the hotel white. In its heyday as a seasonal resort, numerous celebrities stayed there. The hotel was host to Tony Bennett, Joe DiMaggio and Carol Channing. Presidents George Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford were also guests.

"This hotel, so many people don't even know about it, but it's so important. The only reason the town of Belleair came about was because people who came down in the winters decided to build homes here," said Connie Mudano, who was instrumental in getting the hotel on the National Register of Historic Places in December 1979.

But today, tarps cover the roof, and parts of the 108-year-old hotel show their age.

"She's an elderly lady and tattered around the edges, but she has the potential to be a lot grander than a lot of our other masterpieces," Stokes said.

Johnson has contacted several national, state and local preservation groups and rallied residents to save the hotel.

"We're going to reach out to all the national news networks," she said. "We're planning to contact celebrities to contribute, be a voice and possibly come to a demonstration if it goes that far."

Tom Heironimus, a local developer, said he was part of a group that made a separate proposal on the property. His team planned to preserve the hotel's public areas and replace the wings with five- to seven-story condo buildings.

Both groups are adamant about saving the hotel's golf course on Indian Rocks Road, but neither wants to preserve the current pagoda-style lobby, which was added in 1990 by former owners Mido Development Co.

Heironimus, who is also the spokesman for a group of 300 to 400 residents called Protect Belleair, said the group hopes to work with the owners, not against them.

"The issue here is to come up with a solution that works, not to beat off someone who is trying to develop," Heironimus said. "How can we make this acceptable to the community and economically feasible for a developer?"

Heironimus said developers shouldn't raze the hotel, even though they have the right to do so.

"I think that would be a really negative thing for a developer to do," he said. "You shouldn't go in as the enemy to the entire populace."

After receiving e-mails seeking his help to save the Biltmore, County Commissioner Ronnie Duncan met with Johnson and a couple of preservationists. Duncan said he plans to recommend that the County Commission assemble a group to discuss the need for a consistent countywide historic preservation policy.

Johnson also met with 30 residents of Pelican Place condominiums, which overlooks the Belleview Biltmore golf course.

Julie Klechner, who lives at Pelican Place, said the Belleview Biltmore is part of the town's identity.

"The people say the golf course, green space and the Belleview - that's Belleair," Klechner said. "It's a magnificent building. To go over there, it's like you've gone back in time. You sit in the old bar and almost visualize people in that old dress. They say there are spirits that live there, and you can almost feel it."

Times staff writer Michael Sandler contributed to this report. Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or at lorri@sptimes.com

For information on preservation efforts, e-mail Rae Claire Johnson at raeclaire@aol.com or log on to www.savethebiltmore.com

[Last modified April 17, 2005, 08:20:05]