Lead Architect for FSC's Restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings Offers a Glimpse into Wright's Vision for the Campus

LAKELAND, Fla. (Nov. 2, 2009) — Florida Southern College's Lawton Chiles Center for Florida History welcomes Jeff Baker, architect with Mesick Cohen Wilson Baker Architects of Albany, N.Y., on Nov. 12. His lecture on "Discovering and Restoring Frank Lloyd Wright's Vision for Florida Southern College" takes place at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel on the FSC campus. The event is free and open to the public.

The lead architect for the College's restoration of the Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, Baker will discuss the vision that Wright had for the campus, as well as looking at the plans for buildings that were left on the drawing table.

"We are really excited about hosting Jeff Baker, one of America's premier restoration architects, as our November speaker of this year's lecture series," said Dr. James M. Denham, director of the Lawton Chiles Center for Florida History. "As far as I know, this is the first opportunity that Mr. Baker has had to address the local public on his work here at Florida Southern."

A member of the American Institute of Architects, the Society of Architectural Historians, and the Association for Preservation Technology, Baker holds a bachelor of architecture degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has restored dozens of significant American landmark buildings, including some designed by Thomas Jefferson at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville; Benjamin Henry Latrobes Pope Villa in Lexington, Ky.; and the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Mass. Some of his past projects include restoration work at Thomas Jeffersons home, Monticello; James Madisons home, Montpelier; and the Presidents House at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. He also has helped to restore the New York State Capitol; the Vermont State House; the St. Johnsbury Athenauem in St. Johnsbury, Vt.; and Richard Morris Hunts Ochre Court in Newport, R.I.

For more information, please contact the Lawton Chiles Center for Florida History at 863.680.3001.

About the Florida Lecture Series
In its 14th year, the Florida Lecture Series at Florida Southern College is a forum that brings speakers to the FSC campus to lecture on Florida life and culture from a wide range of disciplines, including history, public affairs, law, sociology, criminology, anthropology, literature, and art. The overall objective of the series is to bring members of the community, faculty and student body together to interact with and learn from leading scholars in their fields.