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Serenity Then - And Now

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By MICHELE SAGER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 27, 2008

FOREST HILLS - Residents often stroll the quiet streets that surround the Babe Zaharias Golf Course enjoying the views of lush greens.

The city golf course is the centerpiece of Forest Hills neighborhood. Children scamper through the course's sprinklers under the sun's blaze. Neighborhood pets dash across the lawn below the moon's glow.

Yet, many of the golfers who roll by in their carts are unaware of the man, tucked away in his nearby home, who helped make this serene setting possible.

Fred Schippnick doesn't spend much time these days on the links, but nearly 40 years ago, he made history trying to protect them.

The 101-year-old man, surrounded by mementos and pictures of his life, enjoys a quiet existence.

Among the stacks of papers piled on tabletops is the written speech he delivered before city council and hundreds of his neighbors in December 1968.

Schippnick is one of the residents who led a fight to keep the city from rezoning the property, then named Forest Hills Golf Course. City leaders were considering a proposal that would have allowed a developer to build town houses and apartments on the land.

"It would have ruined the atmosphere of this neighborhood," said Schippnick's daughter, Candace Garrett. "When I was young, all the children would play on the course. It's quiet and peaceful. Apartments would have brought noise and traffic."

When Schippnick thought he might lose his serene neighborhood, he and others hit the streets collecting names on a petition. Then, on Dec. 10, 1968, he faced the Tampa City Council in front of a crowd of 900 residents. At the time, it was the largest crowd to attend a council meeting.

"To yield to the importunities of the developer in this matter would be to establish a dangerous local precedent, which would jeopardize the continued existence of golf courses presently operating in such parts of the city as Palma Ceia, Rocky Point and Temple Terrace," Schippnick told council members. "No homeowner who paid a premium price for the privilege of living near a golf course could ever after be certain that his costly privileges were secure."

Schippnick, who turns 102 on Sept. 15, recalled the mood of that meeting.

"I was nervous because there were so many people there," he said. "I had no idea we would get that kind of turnout. But it had to be done."

The council decided not to rezone the land, and the golf course remains today, now renamed Babe Zaharias.

Though Schippnick's health keeps him from the golf course these days, he said he is glad it is here for others to enjoy.

"It's a beautiful place that needed to be protected," he said.

Reporter Michele Sager can be reached at (813) 865-4843 or msager@tampatrib.com.

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