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| Florida, State Archives/Florida Memory |
By Jane Feehan
A number of hotels went up along Fort Lauderdale beach in the 1950s including the iconic Yankee Clipper that remains today. Gill Construction built the hotel; the concept was the brainchild of prolific architect M. Tony Sherman of Miami.
Sherman designed the 130-room Yankee Clipper to appear as an ocean liner. The $1.5 million hotel opened during the summer of 1956 and drew locals and tourists with its 400 foot beach, pool with portals visible from the Wreck Bar, a Polynesian review, and stellar dining.
During the same time this project was underway, Sherman designed the 300-room Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas and an addition to the Reef Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. He had designed the Castaways Motel in Sunny Isles (North Miami Beach), which officially opened in February 1952. Also during the early 50s, the architect designed the Jolly Roger Hotel on the Fort Lauderdale strip as well as the building for nearby Causeway Realty. Sherman also left his imprint on another Gill Construction project of the time, Lauderdale Isles.
Sherman died in 1999. As of early December, 2014, the Yankee Clipper Hotel is now an InSite Group property. It operates in affiliation with B Hotels and Resorts as the B Ocean Resort. The Wreck Bar and its Mermaid Show remains.
Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale architects, architects
