Description

Sarasota’s architecturally striking Municipal Auditorium was constructed with the assistance of the federal Works Progress Auditorium (WPA).

“Work on the auditorium commenced in July of 1937. The federal government granted the sum of $131,000.00 towards the project. Skilled labor was paid for by the City’s General Fund and common labor was paid for by the WPA. The auditorium was officially opened on February 24, 1938, for the Sara de Soto Celebration.

Designed in the Art Deco/Moderne style by Chicago architect, Thomas Reed Martin, the auditorium was quite a site for visitors entering from the north Tamiami Trail. At the entry of the auditorium is an electrically lit fountain designed by Frank Martin, the son of the auditorium’s architect.

… The Municipal Auditorium was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1995.”