The recently completed Manasota Beach pavilion features a similar design to that employed by Sweet Sparkman Architects at its Caspersen Beach Pavilion in Venice. In February, Sarasota County balked at spending $ 1.3 million for a similar restroom facility at Lido Beach in Sarasota. "It's a toilet!" cried critics. The commission considered the matter after hearing from architect Todd Sweet and approved the Lido facility, 3-1. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 3-8-2013.
The recent Herald-Tribune story on the objection by some Sarasota County Commissioners to a $1.3 million Lido Beach bathroom facility came to mind when I happened upon the new facility at Manasota Key's public beach last week.
A beach-going man noticed me and my big Nikon camera and said, "Now you know what a $1 million bathroom looks like."
"It's worth it," I replied.
"It's just a bathroom," he countered. I let the conversation go at that, but his opinion got me to wondering.
So why is great architecture -- and this design, just like the one at Caspersen Beach, by Sweet Sparkman Architects is great architecture -- considered a waste just because the structure primarily houses toilets? (The building also has offices for lifeguards and volunteers, and the site has shower stations and appropriate landscape architecture, including pathways, walls and plantings.)
When you remodel the inside of your house, where do you spend the most money?
Kitchens and bathrooms, of course.
But at the beach, apparently, it is OK to put a bamboo screen around a hole in the ground and call it a day.
We can't be wasting "taxpayer dollars" on good architecture now, can we?
I, for one, admire the built environment, and I applaud the county government's efforts to promote outstanding architecture, just as the city, county and school board did 50 years ago.
And as it turns out, the Lido bathroom building will cost about half of that $1.3 million, with the rest going to landscaping, site work, salaries and other costs. The project was approved by a vote of 3-1.
Indian Beach tale
My March 8 story about the architectural competition to design a residence for a 5-acre property along the north bay in Indian Beach elicited several interesting reader responses.
One reader asked if I knew the property was right next door to the mansion-for-rent that I profiled that day on page 1A. Yes, I knew that. Coincidentally, those stories ran the same day.
Meg McDonough, president of Luxury Hospitality Consultants LLC in Sarasota, also opined that the competition was nothing more than a publicity stunt. Of course it is, but I can't offer that opinion in a news story.
"Interesting idea, but I would not hold much hope of getting a decent design from an architecture student," wrote McDonough. "From what I see in the professional architecture magazines, they seem to teach them to have far-out ideas and a lot of nothingness that cannot be built.
"This particular angle appears to be more about hype in bringing attention to market the property. The meager $2,500 is an insult for award money.
"I don't see the validity of having a student design become the springboard towards actual design-build, as it is typically the state-registered architect's plans that are held as legally binding."
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