{"id":3387,"date":"2019-10-06T20:36:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T00:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=3387"},"modified":"2019-10-06T20:36:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T00:36:41","slug":"a-community-landmark-could-become-preschool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2019\/10\/06\/a-community-landmark-could-become-preschool\/","title":{"rendered":"A Community landmark could become preschool"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For some, the yellow brick Prairie-style house with the\nwide, wraparound verandah is their dream home. But it might soon become a\npreschool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Brawner has petitioned the city of Lakeland for a\nconditional use permit to turn the grand dame of Frank Lloyd Wright Way and\nSuccess Avenue into a preschool that would teach as many as 70 children a day.\nWhile some neighbors of the historic property at 417 Frank Lloyd Wright Way\naccept that the owner can do what he pleases, others are surprised at or\nopposed to the idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGoing to be more traffic, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Debra Jones\nBrown wrote on her Facebook post about the plan. \u201cSeems an odd and expensive\nchoice to use this magnificent, beautifully restored dwelling for that. I have\nnothing against the little tykes … I adore young children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones Brown said she has lived in the Lake Morton Historic\nDistrict for 60 years and has seen the home used for many things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA former neighbor was \u2018house mother\u2019 when it was a girls\u2019\ndorm for Florida Southern College in the 70s,\u201d she said. \u201cAt one point, before\nthat, I believe it was a frat house \u2014 that did not go very well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been used as a bed and breakfast rental in recent\nyears, fetching $185 a night for the five-bedroom 1912 house known as The Deen\nHome. The\nAirbnb listing<\/a> says the home was designed by Guy Platt Johnson, a\nstudent of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, for banker Columbus W. Deen, a\ndistant relation of famed and shamed Southern\ncook Paula Deen<\/a>. The Ledger had previously reported in August 2017\nwhen Shelnut,\na 1988 graduate of Lakeland High School, put the Deen Home on the market.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The home features stunning details including stained glass\nwindows, original pocket doors, coffered ceilings, six fireplaces and fantastic\nwoodwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter from the city informing neighbors about the\nproposal, Brawner is listed as the person petitioning for the zoning change,\nbut Polk County Property Appraiser records list Steve Shelnut as the owner.\nShelnut bought the property in 2012 for $580,000 and has made substantial\nimprovements to it in the past seven years, bringing the old girl back to her original\nglory. The Ledger had previously reported in August 2017 when Shelnut,\na 1988 graduate of Lakeland High School, put the Deen Home on the market<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas and Madison Brawner said they have an offer on the\nproperty and want to help with the needs of young families in an area that is\nquickly growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause of this rapid growth, there is a huge need for more\nchildcare facilities in Lakeland, with many preschools having over a year long\nwaitlist,\u201d the Brawners said in a statement emailed to The Ledger. \u201cFamilies in\nLakeland no longer have as much of a choice in choosing a preschool for their\nchild.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple continued, saying \u201cAlta Schoolhouse will provide\nMontessori inspired teaching within the walls of this beautiful, historic\nproperty. History is a core value of the Montessori method and, for an entire\nmonth, our students will learn about the history of Lakeland. We will also\ncreate a history wall within the building documenting the story of the property\nand its significance in the Lakeland community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They do not plan any structural changes to the exterior of\nthe property. As for drop-off and pick-up, they said they plan to use the\nbackyard area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are aware of the community\u2019s concern about traffic on\nSuccess Ave.,\u201d they wrote. \u201cOur current plan utilizes the back of the property\nto keep parking away from Success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, they pointed out that the property has been used as\na single-family home for only 30 of its 107-year existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grant Fletcher, who grew up on nearby Charles Street, said\nhe\u2019s ashamed to hear the Lakeland landmark may become commercialized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt always seemed like the perfect home to me,\u201d Fletcher\nsaid. \u201cIt\u2019s even more disappointing to know that with TWO nearby (businesses)\nthat provide some sort of care for children that this decision may place\nfinancial strains on other standing businesses. Lastly, I fear the nightmare\nthat will become of the traffic in that area and what putting a car line\ncapable of facilitating parents will do to the appearance of this iconic home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julie Townsend, president of the Lake Morton Neighborhood\nAssociation, said the board was heavily leaning toward opposing the change in\nzoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe changes to the historic structure that would have to be\nmade for this type of use and the added traffic at peak times in an area meant\nfor residential are the two main reasons,\u201d Townsend said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neighbors will have a chance to make their voices heard. A\npublic hearing on the matter will be held before the Lakeland Planning and\nZoning Board at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 15 in the city commission room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For some, the yellow brick Prairie-style house with the wide, wraparound verandah is their dream home. But it might soon become a preschool. Thomas Brawner has petitioned the city of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"6","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}