THE Orlando Photo Thread

[dcluley98]

"Union" on a foggy, cloudy night: 

[JFW657]

 

[dcluley98]

The pano-stitch glitched when my friend's bulldog moved. But this was the fog rolling in from the deck on Lake Eola last night.  The bulldog got all distorted and trippy looking now because it got distracted and started walking during the shot, haha. Interesting colors at play refracting off the mist in the air and on the surfaces. 

[orange87]

[cwetteland]

Where are the cranes?

[spenser1058]

*sings, “send in the cranes, there ought to be cranes, well maybe next year...*

[JFW657]

6 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

*sings, “send in the cranes, there ought to be cranes, well maybe next year...*

Damn.

I was going to post almost that exact same response yesterday, but decided a'gin it.

[JFW657]

[KJHburg]

Couple of Miscellaneous photos of Orlando.   Love that historical building downtown in first photo.   Last two photos some feathered friends downtown at Lake Eola. 

[codypet]

Isn't that first building vacant and has been for a number of years?

[orlandoguy]

Isn't that first building vacant and has been for a number of years?

Depending on if/how the demographics & entertainment options shift in the CBD in the coming years, I think that spot would make a phenomenal restaurant space.

[KJHburg]

^^^ if that building on the corner of Orange downtown the brick historical building is vacant they should convert to apartments or hotel.  It would make a great boutique hotel.  

[spenser1058]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

^^^ if that building on the corner of Orange downtown the brick historical building is vacant they should convert to apartments or hotel.  It would make a great boutique hotel.  

I’m wondering if it still belongs to the county and the red tape is tying it up.

It was one of the oldest banks in town and crashed during the Depression and then Florida National until they moved uptown in the ‘60’s.

After that, it was the Election Supervisor’s office and then housed the FAMU law school until they built their campus by I4.

So far as I know, it’s been empty since then.

My dream use would be to convert several of those buildings into an arts school like SCAD did in Savannah. Sadly, our current mayor, who is great on some things like diversity, hasn’t shown much interest in preservation.

Something you might like being from Charlotte, the building just south of there was our Ivey’s department store from 1944-76.

[JFW657]

I wish a bank would lease out the bottom couple of floors and open a downtown branch in the lobby. Lease out the rest of the floors as office space. 

And one other thing I wish they'd do after they finish fixing that wacky window on the Angebilt, is to remove that little extension on the NW corner of the roof. Then go over to the Metcalf building and do the same with those things on the south side of the roof. Maybe extend the cornice around the rest of the roofline.

All that stuff has been driving my OCD crazy for years!!!!

.

Edited January 31, 2019 by JFW657

[spenser1058]

1 hour ago, JFW657 said:

I wish a bank would lease out the bottom couple of floors and open a downtown branch in the lobby. Lease out the rest of the floors as office space. 

And one other thing I wish they'd do after they finish fixing that wacky window on the Angebilt, is to remove that little extension on the NW corner of the roof. Then go over to the Metcalf building and do the same with those things on the south side of the roof. Maybe extend the cornice around the rest of the roofline.

All that stuff has been driving my OCD crazy for years!!!!

.

As the major banks cull their branch fleets (as the boomers begin to die off, the millennials replacing us don’t see much point in going to a bank when they can just go online), it would likely have to be a community bank doing it for vanity purposes. Only problem with that is I’m not sure how much visibility you’d get at that location. (Another interesting stat: ATM usage in the US has peaked as more folks rely on debit/credit cards and the newer forms of payment.)

Edited January 31, 2019 by spenser1058

[codypet]

What is that?  The elevator?

[JFW657]

How's about a little vintage Orlando on a Sunday afternoon?

I remember awhile back, this mural was mentioned. Someone wanted to see a pic, but it seemed none were Googleable at the time.

Found a couple the other day. Corner of Orange & Pine:

Here's one yours truly snapped. Back in the early-mid 90's:

This mural on the back wall of The Beacham, used to be visible from I-4:

"You know the number...."

The '81 - '82 construction wave (ccw Barnett Bank, Atlantic Bank & The First Banker's):

Original model of SunTrust bldg looking SE across Church St:

Originally proposal for OCPL "Library Square".  Aka "Dodged Bullet".

The Downtowner Hotel:

W. Church prior to Rosie's, CSS, The MarketPlace & 55 W. Foreground bldgs are right where the bid bridge section is now:

Nice night time pic of Orange Ave. Hoppin' town on a Saturday night, maybe?

[spenser1058]

Based on the cars in the bottom pic, that appears to be from the early to mid-50’s (the Ivey’s sign also indicates that time period - it was Yowell-Drew until 1944 and it took a while to update the signage due to war rationing and postwar shortages).

Anyway, the Baynham Shoes sign intrigues me because it’s so large but is a store I don’t remember at all from my first trips downtown in the mid-60’s.

Most of the retailers downtown also established  branches at Colonial Plaza and/or WP Mall when they opened but, again, no sign of Baynham Shoes. I’d love to know where they went. Maybe they spent too much on the sign....

Also, I thought the Downtowner was kind of cool - it was like the TraveLodge on steroids!

Sadly, by the time it was demolished, it was in awful shape (I was in a Young Toastmasters’ group in hs  and our parent club met at the Downtowner’s ground floor meeting room on Saturday mornings).

BTW, the sax mural was commissioned when The Beacham was known as the Great Southern Music Hall (late ‘70’s, I think).

Great pics, tho!

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by spenser1058

[ragerunner]

Cool historic photos.

[codypet]

Oh man I never saw that Library proposal.   Could you imagine losing the 1920's courthouse for that thing?

[dcluley98]

If I am orienting correctly, that Library Square proposal has the tower where Modera is currently. 

[codypet]

Ahhh nm. I'm confused.  That's the Annex in the distance.  The tower is sitting on the west end of the current library.

Edited March 4, 2019 by codypet

[JFW657]

5 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

If I am orienting correctly, that Library Square proposal has the tower where Modera is currently. 

No, the tower is where the current main entrance is on Central.

The view is looking from NE to SW across Rosalind towards Magnolia. The extension of the old, original library is on the parcel where Cambria is proposed to go.

[codypet]

(deleted)

Edited March 4, 2019 by codypet

[uncreativeusername]

6 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

No, the tower is where the current main entrance is on Central.

The view is looking from NE to SW across Rosalind towards Magnolia. The extension of the old, original library is on the parcel where Cambria is proposed to go.

Thanks, @JFW657.  I had been scratching my head trying to figure out that orientation, thought maybe the photo was flipped.  So the library expansion was originally planned for the Cambria/St. George lot? Anyone know/remember the story on that?