LAKELAND, Fla. (May 17, 2008) — The Frank Lloyd Wright Water Dome at Florida Southern College was selected by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation (FTHP) to receive a 2008 Statewide Preservation Award for Outstanding Achievement in the field of restoration and rehabilitation. The award was presented at the FTHP’s 29th Annual Preservation Awards Ceremony held May 16 in Pensacola, Fla.

“It is a great honor for the College to receive such distinguished recognition from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation,” said College president Dr. Anne B. Kerr. “The Water Dome is truly a splendid realization of Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision, and I am delighted that the restoration has been so highly acclaimed.”

The FTHP gives preservation awards annually in several categories to recognize significant contributions to the preservation of Florida’s historic resources. The City of Lakeland nominated Florida Southern for its restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s original Water Dome. The Awards jury selected the Water Dome “to acknowledge the proper restoration of a structure to an earlier or original appearance,” as noted on its website. The restoration was completed in the fall of 2007, nearly 60 years after the original dome was built in 1948. The occasion marked the first time since 1966 that an original Frank Lloyd Wright design was completed for the original client (FSC) at the original location. The Water Dome World Premiere, held October 25, 2007, attracted worldwide media coverage.