Francis J. Kennard (March 15, 1865 - April 29, 1944) was a prolific architect of many prominent buildings in

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The public buildings he designed are often in the Neoclassical style. His work includes Hillsborough High School, St. Andrews Episcopal Church, and the

Belleview-Biltmore Hotel The Belleview-Biltmore Resort and Spa was a historic resort hotel located at 25 Belleview Boulevard in the town of Belleair, Florida, United States. Partially demolished in 2016, the hotel structure was the last remaining grand historic hotel of ...

. Kennard employed the French Renaissance Revival style in his design for

el Centro Español de Tampa El Centro Español de Tampa is a historic building in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, in the U.S. state of Florida. Built as an ethnic and cultural clubhouse in 1912, the red brick structure situated at 1526–1536 East 7th Avenue is today ...

as well as influences from

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticism, Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mi ...

and Spanish Mediterranean Revival. Kennard's expansion plan for the Boca Grande Hotel became the

Gasparilla Inn The Gasparilla Inn & Club is a historic hotel at 500 Palm Avenue on Gasparilla Island in Boca Grande, Florida. With The Gasparilla Inn is one of the largest surviving resort hotels in Florida, constructed originally for wealthy northerners in ...

. At the opening, a contact he made later contracted for Kennard to design for the

Colonial Theatre (Bethlehem, New Hampshire) The Colonial Theatre in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, is a historic movie theater built in 1915 and one of the oldest continuously operating movie theaters in the United States. When the Colonial opened its doors, the era of the grand hotels was in fu ...

, called

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

although it predates that style's designated period.

Progeny

Kennard's son Philip was born in

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

on December 29, 1890 and eventually joined his father's firm as Francis J. Kennard and Son. The company designed West Coast Title Company headquarters in 1926 (now the Municipal Services Building). The ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute f ...

'' called them "pioneer architects of the west coast of Florida." Philip Kennard established an independent practice in downtown St. Petersburg in 1938 at 302 Central Avenue. He designed the Carleve Hotel, Nautical Apartments and the Royal Theater (St. Petersburg) during the 1930s and 1940s. By the mid-1950s he was working on several Pinellas County schools including Northeast High School,

Boca Ciega High School The Boca Ciega High School (BCHS), known locally as "Bogie", is an American four-year public high school in Gulfport, Florida, just south of the St. Petersburg city line, and is part of the Pinellas County Schools district. The school has a stu ...

, 74th Street Elementary School and 16th Street Junior High School. Philip Kennard died in St. Petersburg on September 18, 1956 and is buried at the Royal Palm Cemetery.

Work

* Anderson-Frank House with Michael J. Miller assisting *

Firestone Building The Firestone Building is a historic building constructed in 1929 in downtown Orlando. It was designed by Tampa architectural firm Francis J. Kennard & Son. Located at 578 North Orange Avenue, it was built for Harvey Firestone's Firestone T ...

(1929) 578 North Orange Avenue (Francis J. Kennard & Son)Rajtar, Steve,
A Guide to Historic Orlando
', page 154, *

Floridan Palace Hotel The Hotel Flor Tampa Downtown, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, is a historic hotel in Tampa, Florida, opened in 1927 as the Hotel Floridan. It is located at 905 North Florida Avenue in the north end of the downtown core. On March 12, 1996, the ...

(1927) with G.A. Miller (builder) * additions to the Old Polk County Courthouse (1926) * Old Pinellas County Courthouse (1918) *

Old Lee County Courthouse The Old Lee County Courthouse is a historic building at 2120 Main Street in Fort Myers, Florida. It was designed by Francis J. Kennard and its cornerstone was laid on April 13, 1915. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places ...

Fort Myers (1915) * Colonial Theatre, Bethlehem, New Hampshire (1915) *

1912 (an expansion of the Boca Grande Hotel)history
Gasparilla Inn *

El Centro Español de Tampa El Centro Español de Tampa is a historic building in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, in the U.S. state of Florida. Built as an ethnic and cultural clubhouse in 1912, the red brick structure situated at 1526–1536 East 7th Avenue is today ...

(1912) * Old Polk County Courthouse with

Edward Columbus Hosford Edward Columbus Hosford, also known as Edward C. Hosford and E. C. Hosford, (April 24, 1883 – January 2, 1939) was an American architect noted for the courthouses and other buildings that he designed in Florida, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgi ...

* St. Andrews Episcopal Church with Michael J. Miller * Hillsboro Bank Building with G.A. Miller

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennard, Francis J. 1865 births 1944 deaths 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects