Venice in Sarasota County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
San Marco Hotel
1926
Photographed By Dale K. Benington, August 20, 2015
1. San Marco Hotel Marker
Inscription.
San Marco Hotel. The San Marco Hotel was built in 1926 by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) as part of the initial development of the City of Venice. The hotel opened in November of that year after only 90 days of construction. The hotel had a decorative ground floor lobby and space for 13 shops plus a restaurant. The upper floors had 92 residential rooms with private baths. The hotel design incorporated the Mediterranean Revival style in keeping with the master plan formulated by John Nolan for the City of Venice. Its steel and concrete construction made it the most durable building in the city., The hotel was a showpiece of the newly emerging "City on the Gulf," and then fell into disuse following the financial failure of the BLE in 1928 and subsequent effects of the Great Depression. The hotel sat empty until 1932, when it reopened as part of the winter campus for the Kentucky Military Institute (KMI), the oldest private prep school in the country. From January through Easter, cadets were quartered in rooms on the two upper floors and attended classes in the space available on the ground floor. This seasonal operation continued up to 1970 when KMI closed the Venice campus due to dwindling funds and the political winds of the time. The building was not used for a few years until renovations were made in the mid-1970s, again turning the former hotel into a mixed-use facility, with condominiums on the upper floors and retail units on the ground floor., The San Marco Hotel was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 as part of the John Nolan Plan of Venice Historic District.
The San Marco Hotel was built in 1926 by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) as part of the initial development of the City of Venice. The hotel opened in November of that year after only 90 days of construction. The hotel had a decorative ground floor lobby and space for 13 shops plus a restaurant. The upper floors had 92 residential rooms with private baths. The hotel design incorporated the Mediterranean Revival style in keeping with the master plan formulated by John Nolan for the City of Venice. Its steel and concrete construction made it the most durable building in the city.
The hotel was a showpiece of the newly emerging "City on the Gulf," and then fell into disuse following the financial failure of the BLE in 1928 and subsequent effects of the Great Depression. The hotel sat empty until 1932, when it reopened as part of the winter campus for the Kentucky Military Institute (KMI), the oldest private prep school in the country. From January through Easter, cadets were quartered in rooms on the two upper floors and attended classes in the space available on the ground floor. This seasonal operation continued up to 1970 when KMI closed the Venice campus due to dwindling funds and the political winds of the time. The building was not used for a few years until renovations were made in the mid-1970s, again turning
Click or scan to see this page online
the former hotel into a mixed-use facility, with condominiums on the upper floors and retail units on the ground floor.
The San Marco Hotel was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 as part of the John Nolan Plan of Venice Historic District.
Erected 2012 by Venice Area Historical Society.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Notable Places. A significant historical year for this entry is 1926.
Location. 27° 6.05′ N, 82° 26.783′ W. Marker is in Venice, Florida, in Sarasota County. Marker is on Tampa Avenue West west of Nokomis Avenue North, on the right when traveling west. This marker is located in the downtown business district, across the street (to the north) from the public parking lot in the center of the downtown business district, affixed to the outside wall of the building, just to the right of the main front door entrance. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 238 Tampa Avenue West, Venice FL 34285, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Photographed By Dale K. Benington, August 20, 2015
3. San Marco Hotel Marker
A distant view of the marker affixed to the wall, next to the front entrance of the now, Venice Mall.
Photographed By Dale K. Benington, August 20, 2015
4. San Marco Hotel Marker
View of the building that was originally the San Marco Hotel, then the Kentucky Military Institute Building, and now the Venice Shopping Mall.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on September 16, 2015, by Dale K. Benington of Toledo, Ohio. This page has been viewed 614 times since then and 65 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on September 16, 2015, by Dale K. Benington of Toledo, Ohio.