Locals whiz by downtown’s Municipal Auditorium on U.S. 41 all the time, but few realize that tucked behind it is another historic building—the Bayfront Community Center, designed by Thomas Reed Martin and Clarence A. Martin and constructed in 1940. Illustrator John Pirman re-cently spotted it after coming out of a Sarasota Orchestra concert across the street. He says he did a double-take, admiring its “wedding-cake” exterior and the way it incorporates elements of both Art Deco and 1930s Streamlined Moderne style. “I realized this beautifully designed building, which majestically faces the bay, has withstood the test of time,” he says.

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This article appears in the April 2014 issue of Sarasota Magazine. Like what you read? Click here to subscribe. >>