Recently  an old Circus Mural on the outside wall Venice Municipal Park was removed.  This mural was painted by Francis Smith.

        In the early months of 2025, there has been activity on this same wall.  A new mural by Sam Makela is appearing on the  wall.  It is planned to be 250 feet.  It honors the circus history of Venice Fl.  The paint is made of IV protected material.

     The cornerstone of this building was laid in a Masonic ceremony by the Newfoundland Prime Minister Sir William White way on 23 August 1884.

     There are large bricks from Accrington.  The Foundation is stone.  The building is three stories   There are pilasters, free standing columns, and multiple pediments.  The first Masonic meeting was held November 1, 1896. The building was dedicated 23 April.1897

     The building at this site has a long and confusing history.   Over the years, it had many names and uses.  It was built somewhere between 1983 and 1990. It is 2 stories.  Construction is brick and concrete.  Foundation is slab.  Square footage is 50,000 square feet. There are 65 rooms.

The first business at this site was Whispering Sands retirement center.  This was founded in 1990.   Owner was Harvey Weissman.. According to business records there were 3 full time employees.  It averaged 40 to 50 residents.  It was in business for 30+ years.  Primary contact for this business is Harvey Wasserman.  Secondary contact was Steven Wasserman. Both of the Wassermans are brothers.  Harvey is a developer,Steven is a dermatologist,formerly with an office at 1111 Avenida del Circo.  Incidentally Steven was convicted and fined 26.1 million dollars for Medicare fraud.

     In the same  buildIng as the Whispering Sands, there was an outpatient rehab facility known as Florida Sunshine Rehab (1996), psychiatrist (1998), and Bayside  Speech and Rehab 2004).  The retirement home was closed in 2003.

     Harvey Weissman decided to convert Whispering Sands into a rental apartment facility.  It functioned as this until 2007.

     Weissman then decided to convert the facility into a resort named as West  Beach Resort.  Weissman began the process of gutting the interior and building 300 square feet suites with screened patios.  56 units were planned.  Long range plans that never materialized included a six story building and a revolving restaurant.

     In 2012, Wasserman opened the 200 seat Grille at West Beach and the first 12 rooms of a planned 56 room resort.

The resort employed seven people.

     The Resort closed in August, 2013..  Factors involved in its failure were location and lack of a swimming pool. Another factor mentioned in only one source.was the presence of asbestosis in the building.  This would incur a huge expense to remove.

     Recently, the owners of this property has petitioned to property rezoned so that they can increase the number of housing units built.  They have received tentative approval of this petition.