by Alizah Grace

Created on: June 21, 2008   Last Updated: April 18, 2011

Tides of Change: Sarasota's Growing Skyline

Sarasota's architectural renaissance spanning the last 50 years has been both intricately planned and blissfully subliminal at the same time. An oxymoron, one might say; by no definition can premeditated design be found accidental. However, in examining the mindsets of the very diverse architectural crowd who creates these edificial beauties rising in the city, the paradox might not seem so far from the truth. These contractors, architects and interior designers are artisans on a greater-than-average scale. Their ateliers? Residential and commercial land lots. Their canvases? Buildings, large and small. Their tools? Varied. But their passion? Architecture as art in its largest manmade grandeur. Though controversy may riddle the rapid changes painting downtown and its peripheral areas, the focus must not be lost: everything remains in a constant state of growth. Without growth, a city becomes stagnant. But, Sarasota remains light years from that point. Too many factors, controversial or not, promise a sustained future of all the benefits urban modernization offers. In part, out of that whirlwind of debate and compiled ideas, exponentially greater opportunities in development emerged. In light of the chitchat, a look at its specifics contextual to Sarasota's developmental timeline is imperative.

As aforementioned, every aspect of life is in a constant state of change. Sarasota, like every other city in the nation, has matured in the past half-century. It has been a noted fact that a starkly different face used to characterize the many regions in town: a downtown that barely could fit the classic definition, the occasional "high-rise" no greater than six stories and fledgling retail. One thing that laid the foundation for the now flourishing arts and architectural communities was the presence of the Ringling family. Historically, the Ringling brothers were best known for their establishment of the circus. But, John and the lesser known Charles were devoted to acting as catalysts to land investment, property development and civil architectural promotion. Property values and cultural enrichment soared. Unfortunately, the market plummeted with the onset of the Great Depression. Florida as a whole suffered longer and greater than any other state in the Union, because of the exaggerated torrent of population that crossed the border each day and the highly volatile circumstances of investment. In a very cyclical manner, the

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