Larimer Arts Center

This art gallery and theater is located in a historic Florida building that previously served as the Larimer Memorial Library. Constructed in 1929 by a commission by James Ross Mellon, the building was designed by Henry John Klutho in the Prairie School style of architecture along with art deco ornamentation. Klutho also designed the 1907 Florida governor's mansion, the 1921 addition to the Florida state capital, Jacksonville City Hall, and Jacksonville Public Library. The building served as a library and community center for 62 years before it was converted into the Larimer Arts Center in 1992, and today hosts the River City Player's Scarlett-Hill Theater and an art gallery.

James Ross Mellon, older brother to the famous treasury secretary Andrew Mellon, was a wealthy, seasonal resident of Palatka, and commissioned Klutho to construct the library in 1929. Mellon dedicated the library to his name, Rachel Hughey Larimer, and the 1930 dedication and opening of the library was attended by thousands, including the presidents of The University of Florida. Florida Southern College, Stetson University, and the Florida State College for Women.

The building was constructed for a public library that initially housed over 50,000 volumes, with a children's reading room on the east and a main reading room on the west of the symmetrical building. The floor plan of the building has been updated with renovations in 1991 and 1999, but the historic appearance remains leading to the building being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 due to its representation of the Prairie School of Architecture and the work of Klutho.

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES REGISTRATION FORM, National Park Service. Accessed September 1st, 2024. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/e01e425a-7093-49ac-9d0a-62aa9bd792b4.