Kissing The War Goodbye - Creating a Sarasota Town Square

The recent controversy about the Statue "Kissing the War Goodbye" creates an opportunity for Sarasota. The statue has opposition for lack of artistic merit and from those who feel it glorifies sexual assault.

The Statue is very popular with the public, visitors, and with Veterans Groups who honor the "Greatest Generation who won World War II. Most cities would love to have an attraction this popular.

The city should find a better location - ideally in our historic downtown.

Possible locations are:

---A New Town Square

---Five Corners

---Sarasota Waterfront

---Benderson Park

All these locations are feasible but the best location would be in a new town square bordering Main Street. At present the city lacks a central well defined meeting point and square. The "Kissing The War Goodbye" Square would immediately become the central meeting point of the city. Restaurants and shops would surround the Statue.

To create a great new town square for Sarasota requires a public private partnership. The city should prepare a simple plan for the square. Keep the location open - the city would be looking for a creative developer who must find a suitable site. The best site would be adjacent on one side to Main Street.

The City should be prepared to pay for some of the amenities to create a great town Square. The developer would be responsible for creating quality buildings and businesses on the Town Square.

More information at:

kissingthewargoodby.blogspot.com

sarasotatownsquare.blogspot.com

www.cityplanningnews.com

Craig Hullinger

craighullinger@mail.com

941 312 1032

craighullinger.com

Background Information

The iconic 25 feet tall statue on the Bayfront in Sarasota is in trouble. The Arts Commission wants to banish it from the waterfront and locate it far away from the bay and downtown. Some people view it as condoning sexual assault. Others think it is without artistic merit.

The general public likes it and wants it to stay. Veterans groups like the statue.

The sculpture depicts the famous kiss on Times Square in New York. The kiss took place when Japan surrendered. World War II ended and people spontaneoulsy went to public places to celebrate.

The photo is a happy defining moment for America’s Greatest Generation celebrating the end of the long and bloody war. My father was home on leave having fought all through North Africa and Italy. He had orders report for the invasion of Japan. He and most other veterans who were headed towards Japan were very happy when World War II ended.

There were two photos of the kiss. One was taken by professional photographer Alfred Eisenstaed. His wartime photos covered everything from the rise of Hitler to the fall of Japan. He died on Aug. 23, 1995. Navy photographer Lt. Victor Jorgensen took the other photo and titled his photograph "Kissing the War Goodbye."

There have been several men and women who claimed to be the people in the photo. The consensus seems to be that it was Sailor George Mendonsa, home on leave from action in the South Pacific, and Dental Assistant Greta Zimmer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-J_Day_in_Times_Square

"Mendonsa was on leave and had been on a date with another woman when he heard the war was over. His date, Rita Petrie, is seen in the background of the photo. She said she didn’t mind that he kissed another woman amid the celebration. In fact, she became his wife of seven decades."

“Either I was dopey or something, but it didn’t bother me!” she told CBS, adding that he would sometimes repeat the performance. “It’ll come up that he’s ‘The Kissing Sailor’. So the kissing sailor has to think he has to kiss everybody. So he does!”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/18/george-mendonsa-kissing-sailor-second-world-war-photograph

"Mendonsa served on the destroyer The Sullivans" named for five brothers who were killed in WWII. "He was home on his last day of leave and was slated to return to active duty. He had seen the terrors of the war, and what was on his mind that triumphant day was the memory of the nurses, “the Angels in White” who had cared unselfishly for the wounded and dying soldiers, sailors and Marines he served with."

"When he saw that same white uniform, he reacted spontaneously, briefly left his girlfriend (whom he later married), rushed to Zimmer and hugged and kissed her."

In an interview archived with the Veterans History Project, Greta Zimmer remembered: “Suddenly, I was grabbed by a sailor. It wasn’t that much of a kiss. It was more of a jubilant act that he didn’t have to go back."

“I found out later he was so happy that he didn’t have to go back to the Pacific where they had already been through the war. The reason he grabbed somebody dressed like a nurse is that he felt so very grateful to the nurses who took care of the wounded.”

After the kiss in Times Square, the pair did not meet again until both of their identities were proven. They reunited in Times Square in 1980 to recreate the famous moment, sans the kiss, and again in 2012.

Greta Zimmer was a refugee from Austria who immigrated when she was 15. Her parents were killed in the holocaust.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greta_Zimmer_Friedman

The statue is reputed to be the most photographed site in the City of Sarasota. The statue was donated by naval veteran Jack Curran. He gave one half of a million dollars for the production of the statue.

John Seward Johnson II was the artist. He is the grandson of Johnson & Johnson co-founder Robert Johnson. He is known for his cast bronze sculptures of people doing everyday things as well as larger-than-life works. He said of his creations, “People often revisit their favorites. They become like friends.” He died in Key West at age 89 on March 10, 2020.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seward_Johnson_II

The sculpture is entitled Unconditional Surrender for the terms of the surrender. The double entendre is the surrender of the young woman to the sailor.

The name "Unconditional Surrender" may have doomed the statue since it is now viewed by some as a sexual assault. The original name "Kissing the War Goodbye" is more acceptable.

According to the New York Post, “In recent years, bloggers and other critics have tried to use the VJ Day kiss as an example of sexual assalt."

It is now controversial with some groups viewing it as sexual assault. Others view it without artistic merit.

Mendonsa, a fisherman like his father, died just two days short of his 96th birthday on Feb. 17, 2019. His wife, Rita Petry who is smiling in the background of the Eisenstaedt photo, died in 2019. They were happily married for 70 years.

Gretta married Mischa Friedman and had two children. She went on to become a designer and artist. She died Sept. 8, 2016, age 92, and is buried in Arlington Cemetery.

Jack Curran died on Dec. 22, 2015. He was 94. According to an article in the Herald-Tribune, his longtime friend James Harden said Curran was one of the most congenial people he ever met. “His wife [Margaret] just loved it. So that’s why he bought it.”

The Public Art Committee of Sarasota opposes the sculpture. They do not see as a piece of art. The chairwoman of the Public Art Committee said in 2009: “It doesn’t even qualify as kitsch ... It is like a giant cartoon image drafted by a computer emulating a famous photograph. It’s not the creation of an artist. It’s an artist copying a famous image.”

Their protestations notwithstanding, art or not, kitsch or not, the statue has been heartily embraced by veterans groups and a majority of Sarasotans who are concerned not at all about its artistic merits but take pleasure in the very sight of it.

Photographs and stories about Sarasota’s larger-than-life statue have been seen throughout the world.

And, recently, into controversy as the #MeToo movement took hold. In February 2019, vandals painted #MeToo in red on the nurse’s leg.

Creating a Town Square in Sarasota

Sarasota

The City of Sarasota has a vibrant downtown. It is a desirable place to live and dine and is very popular. It is growing rapidly with more dense housing adding to the urban vitality. Main Street is very attractive, nicely landscaped, with the historic town center buildings preserved. It provides a great lineal downtown, with shops and restaurants.

Sarasota is missing a classic town square, however. When you arrange to meet someone, where do you say to meet? In London you could say meet me at Trafalgar Square. In Rome the Trevi Fountain. In Chicago you could say meet me at The Bean. But in Sarasota you must arrange to meet at a restaurant.

Great public squares usually feature one or more iconic sculptures and fountains. These sculptures and/or fountains provide a name for the square. They usually include a common area paved with brick, with an attractive streetscape surrounded by attractive buildings.

The square is surrounded on two or more sides with restaurants and shops. The restaurants include outside seating sometimes under cover. In Florida much of the square should be in the shade from an adjacent building.

So how can Sarasota correct this situation and create a great town square? We will briefly outline how a great town square can be developed in downtown Sarasota. We have several possible locations.

We will start with Five Points which is the historic center of the City. The square is very well located near the historic center of the community.

It is attractive with lovely landscaping, sculptures, and attractive pavers. But it is not a focal point for the community, primarily because it is surrounded with streets, without restaurants on the perimeter.

http://www.downtownsarasota.com/plaza-at-five-points.php

The triangular shaped parcel is bounded by:

Central Avenue and large office and condominiums
1st St and Selby Library on the north
North Pineapple on the south
Main Street and a nice roundabout at the southeast corner

Central Ave is narrow with pavers and diagonal parking on only one side. 1st St is a conventional and North Pineapple are conventional two way streets.

The City has several options:

1. Leave it the way it is.

2. Work with property owners to narrow the streets similar to Central Ave.

3. Vacate 1st St and or N. Pineapple

Alternative 1 is of course the easiest, but does not result in a more dynamic area.

Alternative 2 is simple and would enhance pedestrian access from adjacent business on to the area.

Alternative 3 would result in the most impact, with the redevelopment of the businesses on Pin

We recommend that the city consider taking the same approach on 1st Street and Pineapple Ave. Both streets could be changed over to pavers and emphasize

Five Points

Creating A Town Square

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about Creating a Town Square

createatownsquare.blogspot.com

Click to Read Creating a Town Square

Town Square with Fountain, Frankfort, IL

Diocleatian's Palace

Perstil Plaza, Split, Croatia

Beth in Peristil Plaza in the middle of Diocletian's Palace, the 3rd century Roman Emperor. We are staying in a 3rd floor walkup apartment next to the plaza and listening to a great concert performed in the plaza, surround by Roman architecture. The concert is great.