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Sarasota News Leader February 15, 2013 Page 74 ���During the Roaring ling College and the G.I. bill brought peoTwenties, the Sarasota In 1926, the Mediterranean Revival ple like Syd Solomon that so many of us remember with so much houses were coming out of the ground so and Ben Stahl [a wellfondness came into fast [builders] couldn���t get enough of the known architect and being,��� LaHurd noted. hollow tile blocks, so they used chicken an artist, respectively]. Suddenly, Sarasota ���In just a handful of wire and 2 by 4s. had writers and paintyears, the churches, David Jennings ers and architects all Realtor the schools, the bridgworking together.��� es, the buildings ��� all the things that made up the old Sarasota ���Sarasota has a history of remarkable womfor the next 30 years ��� came into being,��� he en: Bertha Palmer, the McClellan sisters, Mary added. ���Basically that���s what we had until the Hook, Michael Saunders, and here is one 1950s.��� more, Lynn Robbins,��� Plunket said in introThe panel included two local realtors: Lynn Robbins, who has 38 years of real estate experience in Sarasota; and David Jennings, an agent known for his interest in historical homes. ducing Robbins to the crowd spilling out of the pews at Crocker Church. ���In 1926, the Mediterranean Revival houses were coming out of the ground so fast [builders] couldn���t get enough of the hollow tile blocks,��� Jennings said, ���so they used chicken wire and 2 by 4s.��� ���Bird Key really set the tone for Sarasota, and [Arvida���s work] in general. It was very controversial because of the dredging,��� Plunket said, referring to the creation of Bird Key. ���When we came in 1968, Bird Key was being developed by Arvida [Realty Inc.],��� Robbins said. ���Perhaps the greatest change since then Jennings elaborated on LaHurd���s comments is the renewal of downtown. In the 1970s, a lot regarding how fast things happened in the of the downtown was boarded up,��� Robbins added. 1920s. (Arvida dredged 180 acres of Sarasota bay bottom to create the 200-acre, 511-lot Bird ���Not a lot changed until the ���50s,��� LaHurd said. Key, according to historical documents.) ���First, we had the Depression; then, the war. So the ���50s was [the period] when things start- ���It was a seminal event, the beginning of the ed to really change. The veterans who trained new Sarasota, along with the [construction of here came back,��� he added. the] second Ringling Bridge and moving [U.S.] 41 along the bayfront,��� LaHurd said. ���Three million G.I.s trained in Florida,��� Jennings said. ���And Ringling College [of Art and Jennings then discussed various architectural Design] was the first school in Florida to be periods of Sarasota: ���The settlers from about certified to accept the G.I. bill. While Sarasota 1860 to 1910 built what I like to call ���authenfell into a cocoon in the ���30s and ���40s, Ring- tic architecture,��� like the Bidwell-Wood house