Snell Arcade

Arcade View

If this doesn’t strike you as a gorgeous building, then I’m going to guess that nothing will!  You’re looking at the Snell Arcade, also known by some as the Rutland Building, at the corner of Central Avenue and 4th Street in Downtown St. Petersburg.  As you might guess by the name, this building was a creation of C. Perry Snell, one of the most prolific developers of boomtime St. Petersburg and certainly one with a flair for style!  Built during the twenties, it’s called an Arcade because, at the street level, there is a walk-through arcade that allows open access from one side of the building to another, and there are individual shop entrances inside that arcade.  During the decade of the 1920′s, there were ten of these popular arcade-style buildings constructed, though only three of them remain standing in 2009. 

The Snell Arcade is another wonderful example of the Meditteranean Revival architecture that is seen throughout St. Petersburg, although it has some Gothic additions and some Perry Snell original touches, too.  I won’t go into an in-depth description, because you can read about it, along with a nicely detailed history of the building, at the Snell Arcade web site.  There are some excellent photographs there, and an interesting explanation of what was discovered during the restoration of the building. The ‘Rutland Building’ name came about because Hubert Rutland, a banking king in St. Petersburg for decades, fell in love with the building and purchased it in 1943.  Long time residents of St. Petersburg might even remember the Rutland’s Men’s Store that was located at the street level of this building for many years.

Currently, the Snell Arcade has a number of businesses at the street level, and the rest of the building has been restored and turned into unique residential condominiums.

Snell Arcade - Top of Building