If you’ve ever admired the flamingos at Sunken Gardens or retreated from the beating sun under a shady tree in the Old Northeast, you may have Robin Reed to thank.
Reed was a titan of historic preservation who worked with groups like Preserve the Burg, Sunken Gardens Forever, the Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association and the St. Pete Community Preservation Commission to prevent the fast-evolving city from bulldozing over it’s unique past.
She died in March at age 81. St. Petersburg City Council passed a resolution honoring her legacy at a council meeting on Thursday.
“Robin understood that preserving history is not simply about protecting buildings or landscapes,” City Council Chair Lisett Hanewicz said at the meeting. “It is about protecting identity, memory, and the character of a place that we call home.”
Reed was born in Lakeland but her father’s career in the Air Force took her all across the country. She spent nearly two decades in Summit, N.J., where she helped get a local 19th century estate added to the national register of historic places.
In the 1990s, she and Joe Reed, her husband of nearly 60 years, moved to St. Petersburg to enjoy retirement. They settled into a 1930s mediterranean revival home in the Old Northeast where Reed planted a show-stopping garden.
Everywhere she turned, Reed saw charming homes like theirs being torn down. So she joined the neighborhood association and led a campaign to designate the Old Northeast as a “Local Historic District,” a title that provides more protections for older buildings.
That effort failed.
But Reed was undeterred. She successfully rallied against a high-rise at Fifth Avenue N and First Street N that she argued threatened the character of her neighborhood. She fought the destruction of grand trees and launched a program offering free trees to any Old Northeast homeowner willing to plant one.
Her advocacy extended to other neighborhoods too. As past president of Preserve the Burg, she organized homeowners in Mirror Lake, helping them establish their own Local Historic District.
“She could conjure up a committee to do just about anything,” said fellow local preservationist and Old Northeast resident, Maureen Stafford.
By 2015, Sunken Gardens’ flock of flamingoes had dwindled down to just two aging birds. When the city refused to pay for new ones, Reed stepped up, creating the Sunken Gardens Forever Foundation. Under her leadership, the foundation raised over $50,000, enough to bring in 20 flamingoes.
Reed was not your typical activist. Friends and family described her as modest and reserved.
She was never the loudest person in the room. But when she spoke, everyone listened, said Mary Anna Matthews, another founding member of the Sunken Gardens Forever Foundation.
That’s what made her an effective leader.
“She was able to persuade you to do things without you even realizing you were being persuaded,” Matthews said.
Reed’s goal was not to just oppose anything new. She wanted to help others see the beauty in the old.
She collaborated with Tampa historian Robin Gonzales to produce two books – “Souvenir of St. Petersburg: Views from the Vinoy,” which highlighted the distinct architecture of the Old Northeast, and “Sophie & Zack at Sunken Gardens”, a children’s book that tells the story of how the famed roadside attraction came to be.
Gonzales and Reed toured schools across St. Petersburg, handing out copies of the books and giving future generations a primer on local history.
When she wasn’t out knocking doors or attending public meetings, Reed spent her time reading Scandinavian mystery novels, cooking up elaborate holiday feasts for her family, traveling the world with her husband and visiting the many local museums she was a member of.
“She loved her life and she loved this town,” said husband Joe Reed. “I think the reason she was so content is because she was dedicated to doing something beyond herself, for the community.”
