The Edison Estates receives national award

COURTESY PHOTO The National Trust for Historic Preservation presented the Edison & Ford Winter Estates the Trustee Emeritus Award for Excellence in the Stewardship of Historic Sites.

More than a hundred years ago, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, two of history's most inventive and influential geniuses, were good friends and next-door neighbors with side-byside winter homes in Fort Myers. Today, the place they loved is a sprawling complex of buildings and gardens managed by the nonprofit Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Winter Estates, Inc. With vision and dedication, the organization spent $10 million over three years in an effort that rescued the site from deterioration and reinvented it as a premier education center and community resource.

Over the years, millions of visitors and Florida's rain and high humidity compromised both estates. By 1993, they suffered from major water and termite damage. The rehabilitation initially called for the emergency preservation of the historic wood buildings but expanded to include shoreline, seawall and landscape restoration. With guidance from a comprehensive master plan, nine buildings and almost 20 acres of lush tropical gardens were returned to their original 1929 appearance.

The success of the project has brought the site back to life. New exhibits and interpretative programs are models of their kind, reflecting the expertise of a greatly expanded curatorial and program

staff. The new membership program is reaching out to the community as never before, building a critically important base of ongoing local support. The average annual visitation is 225,000 — making the Estates one of the nation's 10 most visited historic home sites.

"Through its extraordinary leadership, the Edison & Ford Winter Estates has ushered in a new era of restoration excellence," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "Combining conservation with program development, they have raised the standard for the stewardship of our cultural heritage."

Chris Pendleton, president and CEO of the Edison & Ford Winter Estates, agreed.

"With the recent completion of the five-year restoration project, the city of Fort Myers, the Edison & Ford Winter Estates, the Edison-Ford Winter Estates Foundation, Lee County, State of Florida, hundreds of private and corporate donors and the National Trust for Historic Preservation all have a great deal of which to be proud," she said.

The Estates is open daily 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and is located at 2350 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers. For more information, call 334- 7419 or online at www.etwefla.org