SMOA and SAF Compromise on Rudolph Canopies

Posted by Philip Lederer on Tuesday Mar 31, 2015 3:00 pm

A compromise has been reached between Sarasota Museum of Art officials and the architectural community with regards to the canopies designed by father of the Sarasota School of Architecture, Paul Rudolph, slated for removal during the historic Sarasota High School’s transformation into SMOA, one Ringling College of Art and Design president Dr. Larry Thompson has called “a creative design solution… working in a collaborative way so it was a win-win-win for everyone," in a press conference this afternoon at the south side of the future museum.

Initial plans put forward by SMOA called for the demolition of a lengthy stretch of the cantilevered canopies connecting the museum building to the Paul Rudolph-designed Sarasota High School, but new plans call for a more precise removal of a roughly 30-foot section. The removal was necessary to allow construction crews access to the rear of the building during renovation, said Thompson, but also to allow emergency vehicle access in the future, once SMOA opens.

After concerns were raised last week by the architectural community, Thompson arranged a meeting between architect and Paul Rudolph protégé, Carl Abbot, members of the Sarasota Architectural Foundation and the engineers and contractors involved with the SMOA renovation. Abbot and SAF impressed the need to preserve what they saw as a functional and important piece of architectural art, while the SMOA team laid out what codes and regulations the new building would have to meet, which included fire truck access to the rear of the building. Both sides ceded ground and current plans mark only a portion for removal, leaving the stretch of the original canopy along the south face of the museum building, where it will serve as a drop-off point and shelter for museum visitors.

“It will function in a different way, but it’s still functioning,” said Abbot, calling the compromise a fitting application of SMOA’s repurpose and reuse theme, and the canopies a fitting piece of SMOA’s mission, given Rudolph’s educational legacy. “It worked out for everyone. I am so pleased that we saved this.”

A structural engineer has inspected the canopies with an eye to the updated proposal and the plans are currently in the permitting process, according to Thompson, who expressed optimism that things would move quickly and still plans for a Feb. 2016 opening.

“The solution will distinguish Sarasota as a community,” said SAF board member Dan Snyder, mentioning that a Rudolph-designed building in Orange County is being torn down by the community there. “I’m not sure there are many communities that would have come together so quickly.”

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Tags:   Carl Abbott  Dan Snyder  Dr. Larry Thompson  featured  Ringling College of Art and Design  Sarasota Architectural Foundation  Sarasota Museum of Art

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