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Belleview Biltmore named to endangered historic list

The designation does not guarantee protection, but the status fosters awareness and helps attract resources for endangered places.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published June 2, 2005

	[Times photo: Carrie Pratt]
	An aerial view of the Belleair Country Club golf course near the Belleview Biltmore in Belleair. Go to photo gallery

BELLEAIR - The National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places today.

"This is an an excellent opportunity for the property," said local preservationist Rae Claire Johnson. "It shows the significance of this building in the national scene, not just its importance in Pinellas County or the state."

The National Trust learned of a request to raze the 108-year-old hotel two months ago. With demolition looming, the organization internally nominated the Belleview Biltmore, months after its Jan. 19 nomination deadline.

"That pushed it right on our list. We knew the threat was imminent and very real," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust. "We heard from a large number of people in the community that want it preserved."

The Belleview Biltmore's prospective buyer, DeBartolo Development, has not unveiled development plans, but in January, the company's president, Ed Kobel, told Belleair's former town attorney that he planned to build as many as 600 condos on the site.

In recent weeks, town leaders have said the owner, Urdang & Associates, may be unable to raze the hotel, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 1979. But Urdang is pushing forward with plans to tear it down.

The Belleview Biltmore was one of about 80 historic places nominated for the National Trust's endangered list this year. The organization, which calls the hotel "one of West Florida's most picturesque and beloved landmarks," says the hotel can only be saved if it's purchased by someone with preservation in mind.

"Tearing down a wonderful historic place to put up new condominiums is not the way to go. We're losing too many hotels all over the country to condominiums," Moe said.

Since 1988, the National Trust has featured 168 threatened sites. The designation does not guarantee protection, but the status fosters awareness and helps attract resources for endangered places.

Two weeks ago, the Florida Trust For Historic Preservation added the Belleview Biltmore to its list of 11 most endangered sites.

National Trust's 2005 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places

* Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa, Belleair

* Camp Security, York County, Pa., sole remaining site of a Revolutionary War prison camp

* Daniel Webster farm, Franklin, N.H.

* Eleutherian College, Madison, Ind., the state's first college to admit students without regard to race or gender

* Ennis-Brown House, concrete block house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

* Historic buildings of downtown Detroit

* Historic Catholic churches of Greater Boston, Mass.

* King Island, Alaska, in danger of being washed into the Bering Sea

* National Landscape Conservation System, 26 million acres in 12 Western states consisting of monuments, wilderness areas, rivers and trails.

* The Journey Through Hallowed Ground, scenic transportation corridor in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania

* Finca Vigia: Ernest Hemingway House, San Francisco de Paula, Cuba

[Last modified June 2, 2005, 10:32:29]