BY JANIE GOULD

In the early 1960s developer Fred Tuerk had several thousand acres of jungle on his hands on the barrier island in Indian River County. Tuerk offered to give the land to the state, which was planning a new university, but hadn’t decided where to put it.  Community leader Alma Lee Loy helped prepare the local proposal, and a banker named Bob Spillman played a key role.  Loy said the state’s deadline was approaching quickly.

“The idea, just the idea, of bringing a college to this community was very intriguing,” Loy said. “We also had the beginning of what we all know as the state college in Fort Pierce, but it was just beginning. Everybody’s looking out for themselves, and Fred Tuerk, particularly, he was a developer. He envisioned a university here. We submitted the proposal and the Board of Regents liked it, so we invited them here.”

Q: “To look at the land?”

A: “To look at the land. Of course, we could hardly find the land, because it was complete jungle, and I do mean jungle, so the day before they arrived, Mr. Tuerk and some of the gentlemen who worked for him went through and took these little sand roads and made them just a little bit bigger so we could get a vehicle through there.”

Q: “There were no utilities, there was no nothing!”

A: “This was raw land, and raw jungle, like we used to have up and down the beach.  Anyway, we showed them all the wonderful things and told them how wonderful Vero Beach and Indian River County were.”

Q: “How did they seem to react?”

A: “I think it was mixed. Number one, they loved the idea that somebody was going to give them the land!  Number two, it was quite remote, and of course Indian River Shores was just barely budding as a new community. But they were nice to us, they really were. They took all of the sites and ranked them and they let us know that we were in the top ranking, and to please submit a final proposal.”

Q: “This was for the University of Central Florida?”

A: “It didn’t even have a name but it turns out the University of Central Florida was the university they were talking about.  We had such a short period of time between the time they said you’re on the list,    please complete the final questions. We did and made all those copies you have to make. We had no way to get it to them in Tallahassee. We didn’t have fax machines back then. It had to be hand carried, so Bob Spillman, anxious as he was and smart as he was, was also a pilot.  He said, ’I will fly this proposal up there and make sure it’s there on time,’ which he did.”

On his return flight, Spillman’s small plane crashed in North Florida and Spillman was killed.

” Naturally, we didn’t believe it,” Loy said. “We held out hope until we found out by the end of that day that he was killed. It was such a tremendous shock to this whole community, and you know, I’ve been thinking whatever happened with our proposal? I don’t have any idea what happened after that day, because I don’t think any of us really cared. We had lost a wonderful friend. We had lost a community leader. We had lost a young man. Bob Spillman was 35 years old!  Fred Tuerk suffered like the rest of us because he had learned to admire this young man who was coming up.”

Q: “A few years later Tuerk sold his land to the developers of John’s Island …”

A: “Things work for the best. If you’re just patient, the right things will come at the right time, and I think that’s what happened in this situation. John’s Island and all the people who have come to live there have been marvelous, marvelous to this county.”

Q: “And we have a state college after all.”

A: “Oh yes we do, and we’re proud of that too!  Indian River State College has come a long way.”

A monument near the Bethel Creek House notes that Spillman died in service to his community. A portion of Highway A1A north of Beachland Boulevard is named the Robert C. Spillman Memorial Highway.”

“Every time I go by, I think about Bob,” Loy said.

The University of Central Florida opened in Orlando in 1968.  It was originally called Florida Technological University. Now, with more than 56,000 students, it ranks among the nation’s largest universities.

This story was first heard as a radio segment on Janie Gould’s Floridays show on WQCS/88.9 FM, NPR of the Treasure Coast. T o hear other Floridays shows, go to wqcs.org and click on News.