Historic preservation advocate, group to receive award from UF

February 10, 2011

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Villagers Inc., a community preservation group, and historic preservation advocate Sallye Jude will be awarded the University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning 2011 Beinecke-Reeves Distinguished Achievement Award at a luncheon Friday.

The annual award, given by the college’s Historic Preservation Program, recognizes an individual or group with a connection to the state of Florida who exemplifies the spirit of historic preservation and has demonstrated exceptional dedication to the field. The award is named in honor of the late Walter Beinecke Jr., and UF professor emeritus F. Blair Reeves, both of whom were recipients of the top national honor in the field of historic preservation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation Crowninshield Award.

Founded in 1966 to save the Douglas Entrance, a Coral Gables landmark, The Villagers has done more than its share to protect Florida’s historic sites. This group of community preservationists has contributed significant resources to save numerous endangered South Florida landmarks, including the Biltmore Hotel; Vizcaya Musem and Gardens; El Jardin, a bay-front mansion in the Coconut Grove, which is now Carrollton School; and the old Larkin Schoolhouse on the grounds of Sunset Elementary School.

But the group doesn’t just concentrate on the past; the group also offers scholarships to historic preservation students throughout Florida – one scholarship specifically for UF students.

Marty Hylton, acting director of UF’s Historic Preservation Program, said most students use this scholarship to attend the Preservation Institute: Nantucket. The Nantucket program is the signature field school of the UF Center for World Heritage & Stewardship, where students gain hands-on experience in historic preservation from an international perspective.

“The Villagers are helping advance the field of historic preservation by offering future leaders the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through programs like PI:N,” Hylton said. “I think one of their greatest contributions is that they are helping train the people who are going to be taking care of our important cultural and historic resources long term.”

As a founding member of The Villagers, Sallye Jude is being singled out for her additional contributions toward preserving Florida’s heritage. In 1976 she was instrumental in the formation of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and holds the record for service as a board member of the Trusts’ Bonnet House committee. She is a longtime member of the board of Citizens for a Scenic Florida, as well as a supporter at the national level of Preservation Action, a nonprofit organization that serves as the national grassroots lobby for historic preservation. Jude and her husband, James, helped spark early preservation efforts in Key West, Fla., through their adaptive uses of historic buildings. Their most ambitious undertaking to date was the rehabilitation of the Miami River Inn, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s.

“Sallye is proof that the Villagers, individually and collectively, have helped lead the preservation of some of Florida’s most treasured cultural resources,” Hylton said.