Sarasota Sites

Also known as Island Park, Sarasota's Bayfront Park was developed during the 1930s/40s by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Herald-Tribune: "In the late 1930s, with financial aid of the Works Progress Administration, the city of Sarasota built the Lido Beach Casino. Designed by Ralph Twitchell, the "grandfather of the Sarasota school of architecture," the art deco-style "palace" boasted a swimming pool, restaurants and bars, cabanas, shops and a ballroom. The casino opened in May 1940 as a mecca of dining, drinking and dancing. For more than two decades, it attracted famous bands and Hollywood celebrities and was the venue for all kinds of events, from beauty pageants to proms to athletic competitions to political rallies." The facility, save its swimming pool, was...

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...

The CCC did extensive work creating Myakka River State Park between 1934 and 1941. According to the Florida Public Architecture blog, it was the only camp in Florida established by an African-American division of the CCC, reminding the visitor that segregation obtained even in great public works of the New Deal. From the Florida State Parks website: In the 1930's, during the Great Depression, over 17,000 acres of the Palmer estate was purchased by the government to develop Myakka River State Park as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal. The New Deal was intended to boost the economy and spirit of the American population during...

"The airport’s beginnings date back to early 1939 when government and business leaders from Sarasota and Manatee counties agreed to construct an airport together, designed to serve the aviation needs of the two-county area. A 620-acre site was selected on the Sarasota-Manatee County line through a Federal WPA-CCA Grant...Aviation facilities were completed by early 1942 at a cost of nearly one million dollars. The Authority leased the land to the Army Air Corps later in 1942 as a fighter pilot training base during World War II. During the war, the federal government spent several million dollars in improvements at Sarasota...