Statuary In North Straub Park

The Vinoy is not the only park in town. The place is fairly littered with them, and almost all, except Bum Paradise, are pretty nice. This is North Straub and they have some old pieces in that seem to have suffered from time and perhaps human folly.

These and some 30 other statues were imported from Italy by local developer C. Perry Snell to help beautify the city.

Mr. Snell was in real estate and during the depression he went on a European shopping trip to collect items for the city. He obtained these from Italy and installed them in this park even after the bottom fell in the markets. He fulfilled his obligations at great personal loss to his own company and wealth. Halso continued to pay his staff during those tough times. He developed many areas in the city, Vinoy, Snell Isle, Crescent Lake and the beach area down around Fort DeSoto. He lived from 1869 until 1949 and then buried in Kentucky. I wonder why.

There is also a sundial that was constructed just last year.

This is a large that is actually over at Vinoy Park, and takes up a lot of room.

Higgs (artist and sculptor) says the sculpture is a "human sundial." A semicircle of markers at ground level denotes each hour. When a person stands in front of the half-circle facing north, a shadow is cast upon the correct hour marker.

Easier to check the time on my cell phone.

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