The fate of a more than century-old downtown Sarasota building could be headed to court following a last-ditch effort from a preservation group trying to stop it from being razed for luxury condos.
Members of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation said city officials sidestepped the public review process typically required before potentially historic structures can be demolished. The U.S. Garage building should have undergone a formal historic review after developers sought demolition permits tied to plans for two luxury high-rise towers downtown, Alliance members said.
Instead, the city relied on a single unsigned form attributed to former historic preservation chief Clifford Smith to determine the building was not historically significant — allowing the project to move forward administratively without a public hearing before the Historic Preservation Board…