 In one instance, a group of prominent businessmen in Sarasota came together in March 1937 and agreed to loan the city $10,000 towards the auditorium project.These businessmen included Benton W. Powell, publisher of the "Sarasota Tribune" and President of the Palmer National Bank; Samuel W. Gumpertz, senior vice president and general manager of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus; J. J. Williams Jr., City Attorney; Ralph Caples, a railroad and advertising executive; George Thacker, President of the Chamber of Commerce; Frank Logan, a building contractor who was serving as a fiscal Agent of the City in connection with bond refunding; and George D. Lindsay, founder, owner, and editor of the "Sarasota Herald".The federal government granted the sum of $131,000, equivalent to $ in , toward the project and work began in July 1937.