The Lawyers Professional Building, a midcentury modern designed in 1961 by architect Frank Folsom Smith, may be torn down to make way for a parking lot at 2051 Main Street in Sarasota. Its fate will be reviewed by the city's Historic Preservation Board at 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 6-11-2013.
The historic Lawyers Professional Building at 2051 Main St. in Sarasota, designed in 1961 by architect Frank Folsom Smith, could be demolished under a plan proposed by its owner, Saunders Family Limited Partnership, controlled by real estate broker Michael Saunders.
Civix LLC wants to purchase the property and exchange it for land at 20 N. Washington Blvd., one block to the west, which is now used as a government-owned parking lot. Civix, headed by developer Rod Connelly, wants to build a hotel there, and, in return, pave 86 parking spaces at 2051 Main, according to documents filed with the city.
City staff has recommended that a demolition permit be approved. The Historic Preservation Board approved the demolition this afternoon, 4-1.
Jesse White of Sarasota Architectural Salvage examined the building and reported to the city that it contained little of salvageable value and no historic materials.
House mover Brett Johnson said it would cost $235,000 to move the structure.
The 8,764-square-foot building is considered a good example of commercial space designed in the "Sarasota school of architecture" genre. The steel-and-reinforced concrete building with Ocala block, stacked vertically on a grid in five courses, has two L-shaped wings and a central exterior courtyard with an opening in the roof.
"Simple building forms, intricate detailing and a "floating" roof plan are the building's dominant design elements," wrote architect Greg Hall in "Tour Sarasota Architecture."
Smith designed the building for attorney Richard Nelson; Logan Currin Contractors built it, according to a report prepared for the city by architectural historian Chris Berger. It was Smith's first commission since opening his own architectural office that year.
Saunders purchased the building in 2006 and said it is a "financial burden" because only half of the building is occupied by tenants. One of them is a bail bondsman.
