Carter Cottage gets historic designation
Town officials, dignitaries and Fort Myers Beach residents held a ceremony to present a historical designation to the Carter Cottage at 251 Pearl Street Friday afternoon.
The typical beach style cottage, owned and resided in by Russ and Susan Carter since 1990, received a plaque for its construction in 1937. It was originally a one-room cottage of hardwood pine with rough-cut beams and later included additions such as a bedroom, bath, kitchen area and, eventually, a Florida room.
The Carter Cottage is an example of Frame Vernacyclar Style which was
known to be quite often built by non-professionals and constructed out of readily
available materials. Most were wood framed and set on wood pilings or pier foundations. This particular cottage was low to the ground and later elevated to code regulations.
After Vice Mayor Bob Raymond welcomed everybody and Historic Advisory Committee member Rochelle Kay led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Invocation, Town Community Development Director Walter Fluegel said a few words about community character.
“Historic preservation is important to any community,” he said. “Community character is when we recognize and protect and preserve the things from the past that identify who we are as a community.”
Russ Carter then thanked everybody for the honor and spoke about “functional obsolescence.” He said he applied for historic recognition from the Town of Fort Myers Beach in 2003.
“This is the culmination of me going to all the historic society functions and talked up behind the members for eight years,” Russ joked. “There is nothing special about (this cottage). It’s just like another 100-150 cottages on the Beach, and they all should be protected and preserved.”
He went on to say there are no closets in the cottage; the rooms are too small; the single bathroom within is tiny; and the kitchen, when he moved in, had a total counter space of 24 inches.
“That makes it very special to us, and I hope it makes it very special to the other cottage owners who we are trying to inspire to take their homes off the market and make their home a historic designated property too.”
Besides the guests of honor and aforementioned officials, the dignitaries included Town Manager Terry Stewart, Councilwoman Jo List, Councilman Tom Babcock, Community Development Planning Coordinator Tina Ekblad, Historic Advisory Chair Roxie Smith and Historic Preservation Board members Bill Van Duzer and Joe Kosinski.
Long-time Beach resident Jo Hughes, who moved to the Beach in 1936, also attended the event. She lived in the same cottage back in 1946 as a 15-year old.
“I loved it,” she said about her experience back then. “I still love it.”
Since 1997, Hughes has been lecturing a class at Florida Gulf Coast University on Environmental Education. She teaches 25 students at a time and has 26 classes scheduled this semester alone.
This is the fifth structure on the island to be designated historical. The Town in conjunction with the Historic Preservation Board and the Historic Advisory Committee has presented plaques for The Rain Barrel, The Annex, The Historic Cottage as well as Beach Elementary School.
It is part of the continuing effort to identify structures of historic significance on Estero Island.