Picture this Art Deco hall rising in 1938 at 801 Tamiami Trail North. This handsome Art Deco building was built in 1938 and is listed in the National Register as Municipal Auditorium-Recreation Club, added to the Register on February 24, 1995. It is owned and operated by the municipal government of Sarasota and was conceived as part of a broader civic vision first imagined in 1935.
The municipal government obtained the 37-acre parcel in 1936, and the auditorium was constructed as part of an 11-acre recreational complex originally called the Civic Center or Bayfront Park. Step inside in your imagination and you find 10,000 square feet of exhibit space on the main floor and an Art Deco stage measuring 1,500 square feet, a layout that has served countless community functions and recreational activities. Over the years it has also been known as the Sarasota Exhibition Hall and the Sarasota Civic Center Exhibition Hall, a true public room for the city.
Listen for the echoes of gatherings past and appreciate how the building’s scale and style reflect its civic purpose. Notice the 37-acre civic parcel the city acquired in 1936, still reserved for public and government use.