History of the SFEC
Philip Busey, turf@ufl.edu
More on Forman Field:  http://sfec.org/formanfield/

Forman Field in 1949, looking northwest, with pastures of the Forman Sanitary Dairy in the foreground, just beyond Davie Road.  A faint dark line of trees in the upper right defines the alignment of the North New River Canal.  Forman Field still displays the prominent spoked pattern of landing fields and the perimeter taxiway.  Courtesy of Dr. Charles Forman, D.V.M.

In 1910, when Hamilton McLure Forman and Blanche Collins Forman boarded the Florida East Coast Railway, they left behind the security of Illinois for the land boom in Davie.  According to their son Charles Forman, there were approximately 150 to 200 people in the greater Fort Lauderdale area.  The area that Ham and Blanche settled, along the North New River Canal, would later become the site of the South Florida Education Center.  Besides no roads until 1917, dengue fever and malaria were commonly carried by the hoards of mosquitoes.  After nearly half a century of successful farming, Ham persuaded the Florida Legislature to create in 1949 the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District, later renamed the South Florida Water Management District.

During World War II, the Formans made available to the U.S. Navy the 545 acres used for Forman Field, an air naval training base.  After the War, Ham received a firm commitment from Senator George Smathers, with support of Senator Spessard Holland and Congressman Paul Rogers, that the land would never be used for anything other than education.  While the General Services Administration wanted to sell the property, the pledge to the Formans was maintained.  Through eventual transfer to the Department of Health Education, and Welfare, and long-term leases, construction on the property of the SFEC began in 1962.

The dream was carried out first by Dean Dessenberger, Chair of the Broward County School Board.  On March 10, 1960, Dessenberger proposed development of Forman Field into a complex of schools extending from first grade through university, which he proposed be called South Florida Educational Park, the first name for the SFEC.  Through efforts of the school board, an ambitious campus of experimental schools was developed, the Nova schools.  This was followed by the private university, Nova University, Broward Community College (BCC), and in 1968 by the University of Florida.  In the late 1980s Florida International University began operations on the campus of BCC, and by 1994 Florida Atlantic University constructed the first of two 5-story towers for academic education and research.

Forman Field in 1982, looking southeast, studded by campus buildings of the South Florida Education Center.  The taxiway is still visible, and part of the northwest landing strip (center) is being used by the University of Florida to grow aquatic plants, just beyond their ponds.  Nova University (now Nova Southeastern University) is to the right, and the white building in the upper left is the Bailey Concert Hall of Broward Community College.  Photo by Philip Busey

Sources

Allen, Jean.  1962.  Education center opens first doors:  A school like no other in the nation.  Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel.  January 14, 1962.

Forman, Charles.  1979.  The Forman family:  Everglades pioneers.  Broward Legacy 3(nos. 3-4):  2-9.

Contact information:
South Florida Education Center Transportation Management Association
NSU Horvitz Administration Building
3301 College Avenue
Davie, Florida  33314

Mr. Pete Witschen, SFEC TMA Interim Director
Witschen@nova.edu

Telephone:  954-262-5303 (VOICE)

Hearing-speech impaired/TTY call 1-800-955-8771
(teletype machine required)

954-916-3947 (FAX)