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Safety Harbor's First Library Built By Women's Civic Club...
“Celebrating 75 Years of Community Service,” an open house recognizing the Women’s Civic Club of Safety Harbor, will be held noon-2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 26 at the Safety Harbor Library, 101 Second St. N., Safety Harbor. The club was organized in 1931 and founded the city’s first library in 1938. The group meets monthly and has promoted civic and municipal improvements, donated to charities and provided scholarships to students from local schools for 75 years. Call 727-239-7080.
Beginning in 1938 as part of a W.P.A. project, the Women’s Civic Club raised funds and gathered materials for original Safety Harbor Public Library. With the conclusion of World War II and the return of the huge percentage of the town’s population that participated in the conflict, efforts culminated in a groundbreaking March 4, 1949 at 176 Fifth Avenue North.
Turning the first shovel, at center in the top photo, is Dr. Samuel Baranoff, who was owner of the Safety Harbor Spa. The completed building, shown above in the early 1950s, was enlarged several times. The Women’s Civic Club, which continued to support the library, sold its club house adjacent to the original library to the city in 1990. Both structures were sold in 1995 after the completion of the city’s new library at 101 Second Street North.
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| Tropical Breeze 1997 file photo by Sue Suby |
The photo at left is from 1997. Safety Harbor City Commission in January 2007 approved a contract to begin planning of a $4 million expansion of the library, including provisions for an eventual second story on the new addition.
PHOTOS TAKEN DURING THE OPEN HOUSE AT THE SAFETY HARBOR LIBRARY.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2007 OPEN HOUSE.
PHOTOS BY SUE SUBY.
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