To honor the community spirit of longtime Southport resident Ruth Rhoads Lepper Gardner, the non-profit group Land for Southport's Future is closing in on its goal of purchasing Gardner's former home across the road from Hendricks Head beach.

The group is the brainchild of Nancy Prisk, who in November convinced the Southport select board to give Land for Southport's Future first refusal on the three-acre property. The organization is in the process of raising $900,000 towards the purchase, which they hope to wrap up in the near future. 

The stated mission of the organization is to raise funds, through tax-deductible donations, to purchase and preserve Southport land and resources for public use, ownership and management by the community of Southport. The Gardner land is the group’s first effort and the group will be the sole steward once the sale is finalized.

Gardner passed away in 2011 at the age of 105 and her three nephews put the house on the market. To address concerns from Southport residents over access to the beach, the select board decided to purchase the property in 2013 for $1.25 million. The goal was to pay the mortgage through an eventual sale but Prisk persuaded the board to enter into an agreement with her organization.  Prisk is careful to point out that her group is buying the Gardner house, not the beach — which is owned by the town but open to the public.

According to the group’s website, some residents expressed hope that it would be possible to preserve access to the Gardner property for all Southport residents to enjoy, now and in the future. Others wished for an indoor place for local groups to meet, a community hall of sorts. Either way, the momentum was enough to inspire Prisk, who has previous experience with land trusts, to act on her instincts.

Informally known as the effort to preserve “Ruth's House,” the support has been overwhelming, said Prisk.

“We're talking about securing the land forever,” said Prisk. “So the land will forever be available to the community.”

The move is also meant as a preventative strike against potential land development which could restrict access to the beach and hinder the sweeping, unobstructed views currently on display for the general public. Hendricks Head, the only beach in the Boothbay region, has become  a popular gathering spot in the summer. Along with the flurry of beachcombers who take full advantage of the small spit of sand, it's considered hallowed ground where souls have come to rest, said Prisk.  Hendricks Head beach has also been the subject of the occasional ghost sighting with tales of scorned lovers returning to the shores in the summer to avenge their suitors. Real or imagined, the area has a special place in the hearts of Southport residents.  

“I hear stories of how people’s ashes were scattered beyond the rocks,” said Prisk. “It has a spiritual quotient.”

The organization feels land development projects could endanger the island’s ground water supply and natural resources, block scenic views, impede public access to open spaces, and ultimately prevent access to island waterfronts. 

While the exact plan for Gardner's house won't be formalized until the coming weeks, it's first and foremost about the people of Southport.

“It's not going to be a museum,” she said. “Southport already has a great historical society. When people hear of another historical preservation, they kind of groan.”

Prisk wants the ultimate vision to be curated and cultivated by the community, a local decision-making process. In the works is an educational component with Southport Central School and the possibility of a community garden.

The group also wants to serve as a template for other coastal communities as they struggle with encroaching development. It sees its mission as a local option and possibly a compromise in the polarizing debate over public-private land issues. 

Tatiana Brailovskaya, who recently retired as East Boothbay’s Bigelow Laboratory’s communications director, has recently joined Land for Southport’s Future in a yet to be determined role. Brailovskaya is inspired by the community emphasis of the group.

“Community support is the larger context of this idea,” she said. “This island can embrace itself which is very motivating.”

The Gardner home, built circa 1850, has sun-filled, south-facing rooms which the group intends to open for the community for casual conversations, meetings, classes, and educational programs. The acreage surrounding the house includes woodlands, an expansive lawn, rocky ledge, and a small wetland that once hosted Monarch butterflies every summer. The property has open space earmarked for a community garden. On the eastern border of the property is a nature trail owned and maintained by the Boothbay Region Land Trust with several parcels of undeveloped, privately held land bordering the property to the north, according to the group’s website.

In the future, Land for Southport's Future will continue to raise funds to be ready to acquire and re-purpose additional Southport properties.  The group has identified several Southport parcels — including a former lobster pound currently for sale in a private cove  — as potential purchases. According to the group, it will be its goal to see that such properties are able to retain their historic value and public accessibility. 

Gardner was a popular and colorful local personality who Prisk said embodied the community spirit of Southport. In fact, the organization’s spirit is meant to honor Gardner's commitment to the people, places, and things of Southport. Although Gardner was a Massachusetts native, she was one of the first summer visitors to the island. She would take a steamship from Boston to Southport in the summer, according to her obituary.

Prisk is confident Land for Southport’s Future will reach its fundraising goal this year and the group will have a more specific vision for the house following a scheduled June 8 meeting. The goal is to have a living, breathing community outlet for Southport residents to use.

“We are so careful in defining this as use, not restoration,” she said.  “It’s a place that is still alive for everyone.”

To reach Land for Southport’s Future or to donate, please call 207-633-7677 or email (info@landforsouthportsfuture.org). The organization is also seeking stories of Ruth Gardner for a remembrance.