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Heritage Village visionary retires
By ROBERT FARLEY and JULIANNE WU
© St. Petersburg Times, LARGO -- The old buildings rolled in one by one over the years, often in the middle of the night to avoid traffic. Schoolhouses, cottages, churches, barns, sheds, outhouses and a railroad depot -- each adding a tangible link to the past in the re-created world of old Pinellas County at Heritage Village. In all, 23 structures were brought to Heritage Village. Ken Ford, its first and only director, was there to shepherd them all. His village now assembled, Ford, 62, retired last month after 24 years at the museum. "He initiated a lot of what you see at Heritage Village today," said Ellen Babb, curator of education at Heritage Village, who has worked for Ford since 1988. "That will be Ken's legacy. He worked with the county and other organizations to get it off the ground." Ford said the county acted just in time to save much of the most impressive pieces of Pinellas County's history. When he took over in 1976, most of the older buildings in the county were being torn down to make way for multifamily homes and mobile home parks. "In Pinellas, as all over Florida, so much history is being lost," Ford said. "It is being developed so quickly, people don't have time to save stuff." The structures, many dating from the 19th century, were moved to Heritage Village from various parts of Pinellas. The village is also home to more than 7,000 photographs and more than 6,000 artifacts of Pinellas County history. "It was fun to do, and I'm glad I did it," Ford said. He said he is pleased with the structures the village has been able to move to the park. The park didn't obtain every notable building Ford wanted, he said. "But we always found something just as good or better later on. We felt we got something to represent every lifestyle." The oldest existing building in Pinellas County arrived by trailer -- the Coachman-McMullen log cabin, built about 1852. It was damaged by fire in 1976 but was moved to the village and restored. The most notable relocation was the Victorian-era Seven Gables House, which was plucked from its perch overlooking Clearwater Bay, dropped onto a barge and floated down the Intracoastal Waterway to its new home in Heritage Village. Newspapers from all over the state and television stations from as far away as Europe came to document the spectacle. Ford was hired as the director of what was then called Heritage Park in 1976, a month after groundbreaking ceremonies were conducted for the 10-acre attraction, which is at 125th Street and Walsingham Road. Although he has been the only director at the park, which has expanded to 21 acres, Ford is actually the second director of what used to be called the Pinellas County Historical Museum. "I admire what he's done and built here," said Peggy Lighthiser, who was Ford's secretarial assistant for about 13 years. "His expertise and knowledge of the area will be missed." Ford, a native of St. Petersburg, said that although his retirement is effective immediately, he has been mulling it for several years. He said his decision had nothing to do with a complaint filed against him two months ago with the county's Office of Human Rights. County officials would not disclose the nature of the complaint. "You just know in your heart when it's time to move on," Ford said. "I wanted to go on and do other things. I wanted time to sit back and relax, do some traveling and spend time with my family." Liz Warren, newly appointed Pinellas County park director, has been named acting director until a replacement is found for Ford.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
