Sanitary Public Market - St Petersburg - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Long Description:
The Sanitary Public Market was designed by architect Albert Lee Hawes and constructed in 1926-27. The building, designed as a walk through arcade, was constructed of structural clay tile and steel. It was built in a Mediterranean Revival style with twin Moorish towers and an arcaded central entrance. It was ornamented with cast stone trim, wooden roof brackets and a Cuban tile roof.

Due to the financial downturn of the depression, the market closed in 1931 and the building was sold to the American Legion Post and renamed the American Legion Armory. For most of the next decade it was home to wrestling matches, home shows and Legion events. In 1940 the building was sold to the St. Petersburg Bottling Company and served as a Coca Cola bottling plant until 1967. In 1940, the new owners hired architect William Harvard, Sr. to renovate the building. His renovations to the west facade were in the Moderne style and removed or concealed the Mediterranean style of the original building. The new look was characterized by a horizontal emphasis to the facade utilizing glass block and simplifying the style of the twin towers.

In 1967 the Turner family acquired the building and added it to the adjacent gardens to utilize as a gift shop. A faux lava rock entrance with a fountain and pond was added to the south facade facing the parking lot. For many years the building was advertised as the world’s largest gift shop.

Street address: 1825 4th St N St Petersburg, FL usa 33710 County / Borough / Parish: Pinellas Year listed: 2002 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1950-1974 Historic function: Commerce/Trade: Business, Department Store, Specialty Store Current function: Vacant, Not in Use Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Privately owned?: Not Listed Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   4/18/2010 debbado visited it 6/14/2008 ChapterhouseInc visited it

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