BRADENTON BEACH – Emily Anne Smith, the architectural designer who helped transform Bridge Street into what it is today, has passed away.
According to close friend and longtime office administrator Lea Ann Bessonette, Smith passed away on March 29 at the age of 83. She passed under the care of Hospice at the Lombardo House assisted living facility in west Bradenton. She was born in Atlanta on April 18, 1940.
Bessonette, now 87, spent 40 years working with Smith.
“After 40 years together, you take a deep breath and say, ‘She’s going to the Lord.’ And that’s exactly what she did,” she said.
The still-visible work Smith created with her Designs of Significance by Emily Anne Smith design firm includes the city-owned Bradenton Beach clock tower, first built in 1937 and later restored using Smith’s design. Smith also designed the city-owned Bradenton Beach Pier buildings, including the building occupied by the Anna Maria Oyster Bar.
For mother and daughter business partners Barbara and Angela Rodocker, Smith designed the BridgeWalk resort building that includes several ground-level businesses spaces and the neighboring Bridge Street Bistro/Island Time restaurant building. Smith designed the Bridge Street Bazaar/Daiquiri Deck building for Jake Spooner and she designed The Sports Lounge’s exterior façade.
Beyond Bridge Street, the prolific Smith designed the La Costa condominiums at the north end of Bradenton Beach and she designed numerous homes and other commercial structures elsewhere on Anna Maria Island and beyond.
A life’s work
According to the Designs of Significance website, www.emilyannesmithdesigns.com, Smith began her career in Atlanta in 1964. She worked as a designer, developer and builder and was one of the first female licensed general contractors working east of the Mississippi River.
Bessonette started working with Smith in Atlanta. After celebrating Bessonette’s 50th birthday, the pair left Atlanta and spent time living on a sailboat near Kissimmee, Florida before sailing to Anna Maria Island in the early 1990s.
“We came to Anna Maria Island on a sailboat up the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway). We came here, parked the boat, came ashore and we’ve been on the Island for the better part of 30 years. Emily saw the architectural design needs here and she brought the gift the good Lord gave her and put it to work,” Bessonette said. “She did a great deal and Anna Maria Island was in her heart of hearts. When Emily opened her office on Bridge Street, where the jeweler is now, I worked for her after hours.”
While moonlighting for Smith, Bessonette worked full-time for the city of Bradenton Beach, working under longtime City Clerk Alice Baird, who essentially ran the city. Bessonette retired from the city at the age of 65 after securing her retirement benefits and became Smith’s office administrator.
“I’ve been in Emily’s office since,” she said.
In 2018, Smith served as a contracted consultant to the Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency and she advised the agency and the city on sign design consistency and other public design matters, accompanied by Bessonette, her ever-present note-taker.
About 12 years ago, Smith, Bessonette and the design firm moved into the Holmes Beach home that Smith designed.
“We lived on the top floor and the first elevated living level is where her office is,” Bessonette said of the place she still calls home. “Emily took some bad falls two years ago and stopped working about a year and a half ago.”
Work praised
Before the April 2 Planning and Zoning Board meeting began, Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie placed a collage of Smith’s design drawings in the commission chambers because he planned to mention her passing during the following night’s city commission meeting.
While doing so, the longtime mayor praised Smith for her talents and creativity and he expressed his appreciation for the style and architectural beauty she brought to Bradenton Beach.
When contacted by The Sun, Angela Rodocker said, “Emily might be one of the most creative people I’ve ever met. She loved Anna Maria Island with such passion. Her architectural designs will be a lasting fingerprint and legacy for us to admire for years to come.”
With Smith as their designer, Rodocker and her late mother, Barbara, completed the BridgeWalk resort construction project in 2002 that fueled the revitalization of what was then a somewhat downtrodden Bridge Street.
“I feel privileged to have worked so closely with her on the BridgeWalk design,” Rodocker said.
When contacted, Spooner said, “Emily was a very kind and wise woman that designed some of the most attractive and unique residential, municipal and commercial structures on the Island and in town. She was a joy to work with and will certainly be missed by many.”
Smith also designed Spooner’s parents’ home.
A personal note Smith posted at her website says, “My procedure to custom design is an adventure of discovery and creativity. It is a path we take together with me as your guide. An adventure you don’t take that often in your lifetime – a discovery where we examine your needs, wants, desires, how and who you entertain, your hobbies, interests, habitual use of space and function which sets the requirement of the floor plans and your tastes for architectural style. A house is not just a home. Your place of business is not just your workplace. Both are where your life happens.”
