Plymouth Harbor Tour
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Start: Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Location: 700 John Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, FL
Time: 4:30pm - 6:00pm
Web Site: http://www.sarasotaarchitecturalfoundation.org/
February 7, 2012 - Plymouth Harbor Tour
Plymouth Harbor is a residential retirement community on Coon Key in Sarasota Bay. With $250 subscribed by his board, the Rev. Dr. John Whitney McNeill, pastor of the First Congregational Church, convinced Arvida Corporation in 1963 to sell the 17-acre site for $300,000 and then encouraged members of his congregation to lend money for construction.
McNeill wanted to avoid the institutional look of most retirement communities. The friendship of a member of his congregation with Sarasota City Manager Ken Thompson led to an exemption from the 35-feet height limit of the Sarasota zoning ordinance. Two local architects, Louis F. Schneider and Frank Folsom Smith, designed the 25-story tower with 343 apartments and four penthouses, and covered parking spaces whose roof is supported by concrete mushroom pillars. The tower was built in 1964–1965 at the rate of one floor per week, pioneering the use of architectural concrete in Sarasota. The total cost was $5 million, $10.75 per square foot.
Frank Smith, who had started his career with Victor Lundy, is one of the Sarasota School of Architecture members still in practice.
Tuesday February 7, 2012
700 John Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota, FL
4:30 - 6pm
Admission: $12 SAF members, $18 non-members
payable by cash or check at the event.
RSVP: 941.364.2199 or info@sarasotaarchitecturalfoundation.org
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