The Seahorses of Lido Beach, Sarasota
“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” –L.P. Hartley
Photo: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, Joseph Janney Steinmetz, Photographer
Even if you never actually plunged off the diving board of the public pool or danced to Rudy Bundy’s Band playing in the ballroom at the Lido Beach Casino, images of the Casino convey a nostalgia for a time and lifestyle you never knew. The Lido Beach Casino’s majestic Art Deco style was blindly white and its iconic 8ft tall seahorses stood tall on the 2nd story promenade, like Ancient Greek Caryatid statues looking out to the sea.
The Lido Beach Casino was a project that began as a dream to create a destination that would provide everything that was expected of Florida: beach and tropical warmth, a variety of entertainment that included everything from ballroom dancing and beauty pageants to poolside volleyball tournaments and had a variety of formal and casual dining. It was the place to see and be seen by locals and visiting tourists.
Designed by Architect Ralph Twitchell in the late 30s, the Lido Beach Casino was inaugurated in 1940 right before World War II. The project was part of the Work Projects Administration (WPA), a work program for the unemployed that was created in 1935 under the presidency of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and it was a way to bring work to Sarasota.
This was a seminal project for Ralph Twitchell and a turning point in his architectural style. Twitchell is considered the founding father of the Sarasota School of Architecture, a prominent movement of modernist architecture in Florida. His early works are considered more of a Mediterranean style and it wasn’t until the late 40s that his true modernist design appeared in Sarasota with the prize-winning Revere Quality House in 1947.
The Lido Beach Casino, unfortunately, is no longer standing. The complex suffered a lack of upkeep in the early 1960s, losing profits. Even though there were several proposals to restore it, city officials were focused on the funding of the Van Wezel cultural center built in 1968 - 1969 and the Lido Beach Casino was demolished, only the public pool survives.
Several of the iconic concrete seahorses designed by Twitchell can still be found sprinkled around the city of Sarasota. They adorn buildings such as Foundation Park and the William Hartman Gallery on Palm Ave. Without the glorious context they once had, the seahorses are now archeological finds standing tall, representing a different era that still makes us wonder what it was like.
For more information on Ralph Twitchell and the Lido Beach Casino check out the links that were used to write this article:
http://www.sarasotahistoryalive.com/history/videos/lido-beach-casino/
http://www.sarasotamodernarchitecture.org/architects/ralph-twitchell
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/LK/20110508/News/605196547/SH/
http://www.sarasotahistoryalive.com/history/buildings/revere-quality-institute-house/
