Daytona Beach Coquina Clock Tower
|
Daytona Beach Clock Tower and Fountain
|
|
A full view looking from the northwest at the Daytona Beach Coquina Clock Tower after the rehabilitation project was completed. Note the pelicans that are flying overhead. They are a common site near the beach in the northeastern part of Florida.
|
|
 Located in Volusia County, Florida
|
|
| Location | Daytona Beach, Florida |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 29°13′46″N 81°00′30″W / 29.229458°N 81.008353°WCoordinates: 29°13′46″N 81°00′30″W / 29.229458°N 81.008353°W |
| Built | 1937 |
| Built by | Works Progress Administration |
| Architect | Alan J. MacDonough |
| Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival |
| Part of | Daytona Beach Bandshell and Oceanfront Park Complex (#99000159) |
| MPS | Daytona Beach MPS |
| Designated CP | March 5, 1999 |
Daytona Beach Coquina Clock Tower is a clock tower located in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is a contributing property within the Daytona Beach Bandshell and Oceanfront Park Complex historic district which was entered into the United States National Register of Historic Places (VO7135) on February 25, 1999 from a multiple property submission under the following areas of significance: Entertainment, Recreation, Community Planning and Development, and Architecture.
The Oceanfront Park Complex property was constructed of concrete and coquina rock between 1936 and 1937 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). It originally was a large beachfront park that included several small rectangular pavilions, octagonal kiosks, a bathhouse, coquina rock veneered shops and stores, concessions and game rooms, two coquina rock veneered pedestrian underpasses, a coquina rock veneered Bandshell and its spectator seating area, the Edward H. Armstrong Monument, and a coquina rock veneered Clock Tower and Fountain.
In the 1930s Daytona Beach was in the midst of a severe economic depression (the Great Depression). City officials needed a way to bring tourists to the area despite the economic woes of the time. In 1934 Daytona Beach Mayor Edward H. Armstrong and other city officials began a two-year lobbying effort to the federal government to build a large outdoor amphitheater complex. In January 1936 the project was approved under the jurisdiction of the WPA with the stipulation that the city of Daytona Beach add a large amount of money into the project. A prominent local architect, Alan J. MacDonough, Sr., (who designed several buildings that are now on the United States’ National Register of Historic Places), was hired to design the entire complex. The project started in 1936 as WPA workers excavated and removed more than 48,000 cubic yards of sand to level the construction site area.
In the beginning of the project WPA workers used local beach sand to fill the foundation area and salt water to mix the concrete. The base began to crack and crumble due to this poor quality construction technique. Delays occurred when the base had to be broken up and removed and the concrete had to be poured again using the proper construction process by the use of clean fresh water to mix the concrete and gravel was used to fill the foundation area. Questions and concerns were raised by state officials regarding the management of the project as the delays caused financial problems.
...
Wikipedia