Burnette Arcade Building

On April 1, 1927, it was announced in the New Port Richey Press that a new post office would be built at the corner of Main and Adams Streets. Previously housed in the Swafford Building, the post office needed more room to accommodate the growing population of New Port Richey. The Post Office Department had requested bids on the project, and four were received – two for locations on the Boulevard and two for sites on Main Street. The winning bidder was Dr. Elmer W. Burnette of Tarpon Springs, who owned the property at Main and Adams Streets.

It is interesting to note that Dr. Burnette was responsible for establishing Tarpon Springs Municipal Hospital in 1927. It was only the second hospital in Pinellas County at the time. It eventually evolved into Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital, then the current Advent Health North Pinellas Hospital.

Work was to begin immediately, with completion by July of that year. Plans called for an open air “Arcade” design with dimensions of 100 by 120 feet, and with four store spaces facing Main Street and two store spaces facing Adams Street. This was in addition to the space occupied by the post office in the northwest corner of the building. The total cost of the building was to be $60,000.

The contract for construction of the new Arcade Building was awarded to local builder L. M. Miller, who was well known in the community and had previously built the First Baptist Church and a new wing at Gulf High School on the Boulevard south of the Cotee River. The new building would use the latest technology in building materials – hollow clay tiles with an exterior coating of stucco. The tiles were to be manufactured in New Port Richey by the Hi-Test Products Company owned by Harry S. Rothera.

Construction of the Burnette Arcade Building proceeded according to schedule. And it was ready for occupancy by late July of 1927. The original plans calling for six store rooms had been changed slightly to allow seven store spaces available for leasing.

Work began on relocating the post office to the new building at the beginning of August, complete with post office lock boxes accessible from the main arcade any hour of the day or night. It opened for business there in early September. All of the business store spaces could be accessed from the street or from within the arcade. At the center was an artistic dome skylight. The project was proclaimed as the finest building on Main Street in the city.

One of the first major business tenants of the Burnette Arcade Building was the City Market, a full service grocery store operated by J. F. McMillen. Previously located on the other side of Main Street, the business was moved to the Arcade location in October of 1927. Not long afterward, the Dixie Bakery moved in to another store space. In early 1928, the Elgin Jewelry and Luggage Shop and the Jane MacDonald Shop joined the lineup of Arcade tenants. In late 1929, Register’s Grocery was forced to move out of its quarters in the Swafford Building because the owner wanted to convert the building back to a hotel. So Register’s Grocery took over the space in the Burnette Arcade Building that had previously been the City Market. With the additional space, Register’s added a complete dry goods section to the store including clothing and shoes.

Shortly after the Burnette Arcade Building was completed, Dr. Elroy Avery appeared before the city council and suggested that a space in the building might be a good home for the Avery Library. But the city council had other plans, announced in January of 1928, to drum up public support to build a library building in Sims Park. Alas, when the voters rejected those plans, the Avery Library did move into three rooms in the northeast corner of the Arcade Building in July of 1928. At that time it was reported that the library had 7,500 volumes in its collection.

In 1938, the Avery Library vacated its space in the Arcade Building and moved to the new Municipal Building on the other side of Main Street that had just been erected by the City of New Port Richey to hold not only the library, but also the city hall and fire station.

In December of 1943 the building was purchased by Harry Sperry of New Port Richey. He announced that his plans were to renovate and repaint the building as soon as possible, but would retain the existing tenants. Mr. Sperry apparently never followed through on his plans – instead selling the property in April of 1944 to Chester H. Hershock who announced his own renovating plans. On Friday, August 4, 1944, the New Port Richey Press reported;

Apparently, the fact that the building was an open air arcade accessible at all hours by the public made it difficult to maintain. In late 1945, Chester Hershock sold the Arcade Building to Mr. C. A. Peters who moved to New Port Richey from his home in Michigan to oversee improvements to the building.

Over the years, it appears that the Arcade Building struggled in attracting business tenants. Notable successes were Register’s Grocery, Dixie Bakery, the Arcade Furniture Company, and Duson’s. Others included a fish market, an appliance store, a dress shop, a physician’s office, a jewelry store, a news stand, and a variety of gift shops. Some of the vacant store rooms were rented for special functions or as meeting rooms by local organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce. Other spaces in the building once housed the city offices in 1936 until the City Hall was moved to the new Municipal Building in 1938. Other occupants included a sewing room for the Red Cross, headquarters for the air raid warning service during the war, and judge John G. Snell once had his courtroom and offices there.

Perhaps due to the challenges of keeping all the store rooms leased, the building ownership changed hands a number of times in its early years. In the late 1940s it was owned by C. G. Woodbridge, who sold it to C. L. Spool of Tampa. At that time, it was reported that the building did have full occupancy – the tenants being the post office, Arcade News Stand, Arcade Coffee Shop, Modern Photographers, the Chamber of Commerce, Register’s Grocery, Arcade Jewelry, Long’s Realty and Mrs. Clark’s dressmaking establishment. The new owner, Mr. Spool, indicating that he and his family would be moving to New Port Richey to live.

Ownership of the building in subsequent years is difficult to ascertain.

The prime occupant of the Arcade Building for the first three decades of its existence was, of course, the post office for which the building was originally constructed. In fact, the general public usually referred to the building as the “Post Office Arcade”. The New Port Richey post office continued to operate in the Burnette Arcade Building until 1959, when it moved into a new location on Circle Boulevard.

This article was added on May 6, 2024 by Paul Herman, digital media archivist, West Pasco Historical Society.
Page last edited by Paul Herman on May 6, 2024