[South Side of Marker]
John Nolen, world-renowned city planner from Philadelphia, created the overall design for the City of Venice. Venezia Park Subdivision helped illustrate Nolen's concept for a model city.
Dr. Fred Albee, early developer, commissioned Nolen's original plan for the area, which included a golf course. When the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, a Cleveland based union, bought Albee's undeveloped property in 1923 as part of a $4 million real estate investment, the golf course was moved to the east and the land replatted as a residential area.
Nolan's concept was implemented in the new use for the area and typifies his idea that physical, social, economic, and political facets should come together in a harmonious comprehensive plan to allow optimum opportunities for working, playing, and living. He believed that ample open green space promoted community activity and aesthetic beauty.
The union builders retained as common areas the present-day pentagonal park, also called Venezia Park, and a large section to its north. A proposed school, playground and tennis courts were built elsewhere.
[North Side of Marker]
John Nolen designed Venezia Park Subdivision for higher priced homes and to reflect the Mediterranean theme of the city. Noted landscape architect Prentiss French created the park-like atmosphere along public streets.
Young professionals associated with the Venice project occupied some of the homes in the Venezia Park Subdivision. The project collapsed in the late 1920s, along with the rest of the Florida real estate boom. A few families continued to reside in the homes during the economic hard times that lasted until the mid-1930s. Civic and business leaders, as well as retirees, later bought houses in Venezia Park.
After World War II, significant construction resumed in the Venezia Park Subdivision. A section of Venezia Park was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The northern portion is a hub of community activities. It contains an expansive park area, which includes a library, community center, and art center. The city archives are housed in the rehabilitated Triangle Inn.
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