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MORE about the ALTA VISTA neighborhood, plus a little history.
A LITTLE HISTORY of things pertaining to the Alta Vista neighborhood
In 1925, the Paynes deeded 60 acres to the City; 20 were sold to purchase the site of Bobby Jones Golf Course, and 40 acres became Payne Park.
A baseball stadium was built,
and also an RV park, utilized by the "Tin Can Tourists" during the depression,
which subsequently became a mobile home park.
Both snowbirds and year-rounders, tourists, retirees and families.
Eventually contained over 700 mobile homes!
In 1925, the Paynes deeded 60 acres to the City; 20 were sold to purchase the site of Bobby Jones Golf Course, and 40 acres became Payne Park. The baseball stadium was built, and also an RV park, utilized by the "Tin Can Tourists" during the depression, which subsequently became a mobile home park.
Payne Park history:
Payne Park history:
- Sarasota Tourist Camp & Tin Can Tourists
- The Preserve Payne Park folks have created a nice, concise history of Payne Park (scroll to bottom of page)
Did you know: Payne Park, originally a spring-training baseball field and short-term travel trailer park and camp, morphed into a massive, seemingly permanent, City-run mobile home community. As early as the 1960s, Christy Payne called out the City on this use, inconsistent with the original terms that the Paynes had written into the deed of sale of the land to the City for a P...A...R...K.
I have actually met a number of current Sarasota residents who grew up in this mobile home park, it was their childhood neighborhood. History is not all "old"! The community existed until razed at the turn of the 21st Century!
The clubhouse for the trailer park community, built in 1962, was the go-to place for live orchestra music and dancing. This eventually became the Payne Park Municipal Auditorium, utilized until 2021 for neighborhood meetings and many special events, as well as private events and celebrations.
Ed Smith Stadium replaced the old Payne Park baseball field in 1989. Starting in the mid-1980's, the City worked towards reducing density and bringing the SMHP up to modern codes, then eventually closing and eliminating the Sarasota Mobile Home Park; evictions, buyouts and lawsuits happened. In 1994 one developer proposed replacing the SMHP with parkland plus building four 100-apt hi-rises in the north and south sides! (That did not happen.) By 2003, after 15 years of debate, with the last of the residents and mobile homes removed, the land was reworked into a public park.
I have actually met a number of current Sarasota residents who grew up in this mobile home park, it was their childhood neighborhood. History is not all "old"! The community existed until razed at the turn of the 21st Century!
The clubhouse for the trailer park community, built in 1962, was the go-to place for live orchestra music and dancing. This eventually became the Payne Park Municipal Auditorium, utilized until 2021 for neighborhood meetings and many special events, as well as private events and celebrations.
Ed Smith Stadium replaced the old Payne Park baseball field in 1989. Starting in the mid-1980's, the City worked towards reducing density and bringing the SMHP up to modern codes, then eventually closing and eliminating the Sarasota Mobile Home Park; evictions, buyouts and lawsuits happened. In 1994 one developer proposed replacing the SMHP with parkland plus building four 100-apt hi-rises in the north and south sides! (That did not happen.) By 2003, after 15 years of debate, with the last of the residents and mobile homes removed, the land was reworked into a public park.
Entrance on Washington Blvd to Sarasota Mobile Home Park
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Victor Lundy concept for SMHP Clubhouse, a.k.a. Payne Park Auditorium. (Lundy's idea was not chosen.)
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Apparently, in 2008, there was discussion of luring the Boston Red Sox back to Sarasota, with some people intent on repurposing a portion of the renewed park (kind of where the tennis courts now are) for a 10,000 seat stadium. This incursion was not to happen.
In 2019 and onwards, a similar plan to repurpose part of Payne Park, 7 acres, for a new music center for the Sarasota Orchestra, was meeting opposition from many users of the park.
In 2019 and onwards, a similar plan to repurpose part of Payne Park, 7 acres, for a new music center for the Sarasota Orchestra, was meeting opposition from many users of the park.
Payne Park history:
- Sarasota Tourist Camp & Tin Can Tourists
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The area includes some Iconic mid-century "Sarasota School" architecture: Paul Rudolph building at Sarasota High School Victor Lundy's Alta Vista Elementary School Architecture Sarasota (merging Center for Architecture and Sarasota Architectural Foundation) is the place to start for more info. |
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1948 aerial image Alta Vista area (Sarasota County GIS)
