SARASOTA – If you are an admirer of Modern architecture, go by and visit Paul Rudolph’s Riverview High School in Sarasota before it is torn down.
Riverview, built in the International Style, is located just off Route 41 on Proctor Road near Swift. Sadly, the Sarasota School Board decided they had to demolish the school in 2008. We can’t hate the Sarasota School Board too much for the decision, however wasteful. Sarasota County, after all, erected the building to rave international notices in 1958, and reaped the glory and fame therein.
Students and former students will gather Saturday, May 23 for a goodbye party to the building. While it is a massive waste to rip it down, we at least hope something amusing is done with the pieces, like being recycled into fishing reefs. If you can’t get there May 23, it will be up for a number of months as the school moves into its new building, which is the size and scale of a modern university.
If you are planning to see Rudolph’s masterpiece before it is recycled into fishing reefs (or whatever happens to buildings these days), you best get on on the plane to Sarasota.
While here, learn more about the Sarasota School. See www.sarasotaarchitecturalfoundation.com. In addition, you might also rent a Sarasota School styled house or take a tour of modern houses in this city from broker and guide Martie Lieberman. See www.modernsarasota.com. You can also read about the history of Sarasota modern at Paul Rudolph’s Beach Cottages.
Finally, read about Rudolph’s life at www.paulrudolph.org.
