| By Jim
Tucker
2006 is Gasparilla Island Conservation and
Improvement Association's 35th anniversary year. The GICIA was
pushed into being February 13, 1971, as the "Gasparilla
Island Civic League" by Wyman "Mac" Miller, owner
of the original Miller's Marina and Gasparilla Inn's general
manager in the late 1960's. Miller and a few others realized
that zoning then would allow 7,000 dwelling units and a
potential population of 16,000. Today, because of their early
efforts, there are fewer than 1,600 units and a peak population
of about 4,000.
In 1971, the GICIA's first president, Stan
Donnelly said, "we have to face the fact that the island is
going to grow. We feel it should grow with some orderliness for
the people who live here, for nature's inhabitants--the fish and
the birds--and also for the preservation of some of the
architecture |
and traditions of Gasparilla
Island." Out of that concern grew the impetus for the
struggle to get the Gasparilla Island and Conservation District
Act of 1980 through the state legislature and into law. Today
the GICIA sees its mission as "guardian of the . . .
District Act and its enforcement; to promote and encourage land,
water and wildlife conservation; to help establish, develop and
maintain green space and recreational facilities in the
Gasparilla Island area; to assist in the restoration and
maintenance of public buildings; to promote the general welfare
of the Boca Grande Community, and to uphold its traditions and
architectural integrity."
Sarah Watkins, GICIA Development Director in a
press release said the GICIA was intended "to be a voice of
a unified group of people who are the
Continued
On Page 3 |
Misty Nabers, GICIA
Executive Director
Sarah Watkins, GICIA
Development Director |
