Brent Batten: Artifact coming back, but access to Key Marco might be going away

The cat is back.

Or will be, anyway.

On Tuesday, Collier County commissioners can approve an agreement with the Smithsonian Institution for a loan of the Key Marco Cat, a significant relic of Marco Island’s earliest settlers, the Calusa.

The 6-inch, part-human, part-feline sculpture was pulled from the mud during archaeologist Frank Hamilton Cushing’s 1895-96 excavations around Marco Island. It is believed to date some 1,000 years. It and other evidence from the dig helped shape the perceptions of early native-American societies and has been described as one of the finest pieces of prehistoric art ever discovered in the Eastern coastal states.

The Key Marco Cat will be on display at the Marco Island Historical Museum from November 2018 until April 2021.

The last time the Smithsonian lent out the cat, it was at the Collier County Museum for about six months in 1996.

Ironically, the agreement to put the cat on display in Collier County will come during the same week present-day homeowners on Key Marco, an area of ancient shell mounds created by the same people who sculpted the cat, will consider steps that could restrict public access to the historic area.

On Thursday, the Key Marco Community Development District will consider starting the process of dissolving the district. That would entail turning a bridge and roads in the exclusive enclave over to a homeowners association.

At least one resident fears that will mean the public no longer would have access to the island, which sits just off Marco Island and is part of the city. Key Marco has historically significant sites including the homestead of Civil War veteran Capt. John Horr, the first white settler in the area. The homestead is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Because of its unique hilly terrain, Key Marco is a favorite with serious bicyclists and offers rare elevated views of the area.

“What it boils down to is denying access to bicyclists,” said Gerasimos Tsandoulas, a 15-year resident of Key Marco.

“The roads were paid for by public money. Your bonds have been paid off, but that doesn’t matter,” he said.

Tsandoulas, a former member of both the Community Development District and HOA boards, fears dissolving the CDD would deprive the residents of the advantages such a district entails, such as favorable status with the IRS and sovereign immunity protection in civil liability lawsuits.

Perhaps as importantly, allowing things such as organized runs, bike races and access to the historic sites can attract potential residents, he said.

“The favorable publicity and political good will generated by hosting such events far outweigh any temporary inconvenience they may cause to some residents,” Tsandoulas wrote in a position paper on the subject.

There are 134 lots in Key Marco but fewer than 30 have homes on them.

“The overwhelming majority of landowners have no idea what’s being done,” he said.

Supporters of the dissolution say having a Community Development District and a homeowners association covering the same area is redundant. It’s difficult to find enough people to fill the five-member CDD board and the five-member HOA board, they argue.

Back to the cat.

To satisfy the conditions for the loan, the museum and the Marco Island Historical Society, which helped forge the agreement, will build a display case to the specifications of the Smithsonian.

Extra security will be added to protect the artifact, which has an estimated value of $500,000. Climate and lighting must be carefully controlled.

Long-term and temporary upgrades to the Marco museum associated with the loan could total about that much, according to county estimates.

In addition to the Key Marco Cat, the museum will receive four items through a separate agreement with the University of Pennsylvania, another repository of the artifacts uncovered by Cushing.

They include a mask and an alligator figurehead. Many of the artifacts found in the 1895-96 expeditions disintegrated soon after being exposed to air. The relics headed to Collier County are exceptions, said Austin Bell, curator of collections at the Marco Museum.

“This one (mask) is in remarkable condition,” he said.

Some of the best artifacts from the expeditions were found in a layer of mud where there was no oxygen to speed the aging process, Bell said.

Altogether, the relics paint a picture of a society that was far more complex than first thought, especially when it came to their artistic acumen.

“These things were beautifully, masterfully painted. It gives a broader understanding of the culture,” Bell said.

“It’ll be here for two years,” Bell said of the Key Marco Cat. “We hope it will really boost the profile of the museum.”

The week is setting up to be historic for Marco Island, in more ways than one.