Jack West (architect)

Jack West (19222010) was an architect in Sarasota, Florida and briefly in Southern California. West was one of the leaders of the Sarasota School of Architecture.

West was born in Illinois in 1922 and served in the Pacific Ocean with the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, he attended Yale University School of Architecture, graduating in 1949. He moved to Sarasota and worked for the firm of Twitchell and Rudolph with Ralph Twitchell and Paul Rudolph as a draftsman and then as an architect. In 1951 West he opened his own firm.[1]

From 1953 to 1954 he formed a partnership with Ralph Twitchell. From 1956 to 1960 West formed a partnership with architect Elizabeth Boylston Waters. In 1965 he joined Rolland W. Sellew to do U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work. In 1966 West partnered with engineer Al Conyers to create the firm of West and Conyers/Architects and Engineers. It lasted into the 1990s.[1]

The Gateway Bank building on Tamiami Trail and Bahia Vista in Sarasota was designed by West. It was renovated and reopened. There was a proposal to demolish it, but it was preserved with support from Kafi Benz and local preservationists. The building's ground include a sculpture by Jack Cartlidge that was installed when the building was built.

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