Fish Camp a local landmark in need of a pedigree

NOKOMIS — The North Jetty Fish Camp, built in 1946 with an old trolley car from Ybor City, has been a local landmark at the Venice Inlet for more than 70 years. It's a place to buy bait, grab a beverage and snack, or sit with a group of friends and catch up.

“It’s just a fun spot: you can grab a cup of coffee in the morning or a soda during the day, a refreshment,” said Gabrielle Zawacki, who stopped at a picnic table with her husband, Ken, and three other members of the Paradise Peddlers cycling club Friday morning. “It’s Old Florida, it’s a tradition.”

Phil Meyer, who sat with five other fishermen at a nearby bench, agreed.

“I’ve been coming here since '77, a home away from home,” said Meyer, who drives to the jetty from Venice Gardens every day. “This is Old Florida.”

But neither Sarasota County nor the state of Florida have any written record of the North Jetty Fish Camp or its historical significance.

“This is a place, from the historical sense, that has flown under the radar,” said Rob Bendus, manager of historical resources for Sarasota County.

Bendus wants to change that, so at 3 p.m. Saturday, he will be at the fish camp at 1000 S. Casey Key Road.

When he worked in Tallahassee, Bendus dealt with the Florida Master Site File, which is a record of all places more than 50 years old.

“That’s the official state inventory of old places and things,” Bendus said. “This fish camp is not recorded on the Florida Master Site File.”

So his goal Saturday is to survey the structure, which is a patchwork of sorts, based on the old 1922 Ybor City trolley car, The Nebraska, and see the integrity of the structure and whether it exhibits the characteristics that would make it eligible for historical registers as listed by the county, state or federal government.

For that, Bendus needs to see if the building still has the look and feel of the past. Original workmanship and craftsmanship should be there.

“The intangible part about all these places is what is the cultural relevance?” he said.

Fishing camps in general, he said, have a place in Florida’s history. The next question will be to determine where the North Jetty Fish Camp fits in that history.

“I really need to understand what this place means to the community, the cultural relevance of the place,” Bendus said. “What is the importance of the fish camp, the trolley to the local community?”

Bendus is hoping that people who stop by are prepared to share their stories and bring photos and memorabilia.

Partly because Sarasota County, at the behest of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, removed the dock and observation deck in November 2017, many people fear Sarasota County — which owns both the North Jetty Fish Camp and a nearby snack bar and restroom facility that opened in 2014 — will want to demolish the fishing camp.

The dock, damaged by several storms, including Tropical Storm Colin in 2016, was beyond repair.

Some patrons who frequent the facility believed the Saturday meeting was a rally and not a historical fact-finding mission.

“You can’t get rid of this stuff; you’ve got to leave something to remind people,” said Karl France, who had thought at Bendus’ appearance was part of a rally to save the North Jetty and hoped to get the word out, to boost attendance.

The fish camp structure has its issues — notably a leaking roof — but Gary Durbin and his wife Joyce, who operate both North Jetty concessions, just agreed to a two-year extension to their contract with Sarasota County. That extension keeps it both businesses under his control through June 2021.

“They have to honor my contract and have to leave this alone,” Durbin said. “If I decided I don’t want to continue doing this, I could submit a letter to have this portion of the contract removed, so it could close.

“I’m not going to send that letter. I’m not going to do that,” he added. “Nobody in his right mind would want to shut a business down that generates revenue.”

Interested?

• Sarasota County Historical Resources is interested in hearing old stories, as well as collecting old stories and photographs about the North Jetty Fish Camp, 1000 S. Casey Key Road, Nokomis. Historical Resources Manager Rob Bendus will be at the camp at 3 p.m. Saturday to survey the structure and talk with people. To share your story or digital copies of your photos, visit http://bit.ly/2oLQtiS.

• Sarasota County Historical Resources is at 6062 Porter Way, Sarasota, just east of the intersection of Bahia Vista Street and Cattlemen Road. For more information on the mission of historical resources, email historyinquiry@scgov.net or call 941-861-5000.