In Memoriam: Bill Halfacre 1925-2014

Construction executive Bill Halfacre was more than ready back in the 1970s when he heard a few Sarasota officials wanted to impose a building moratorium.

Halfacre, worried the misguided political move would crush not only his business, but also overall growth, bought a truckful of silver dollars from a U.S. Mint facility in Utah. Halfacre and his good friend Gil Waters, a Sarasota developer and entrepreneur, then led a movement to pay every construction worker in town in silver dollars. Jack Cox, who now runs Lakewood Ranch-based Halfacre Construction, says
“Bill wanted to show the impact of construction in the community.”

The plan worked. Managers from stores like Publix and others flooded the county with calls about heavy silver dollars that weighed down cash registers. The officials, at least temporarily, backed off the moratorium.