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orlandoguy

By orlandoguy
in Orlando

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jack Burg

jack

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2 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Yep, North Quarter, NOra and, truth be told, even Uptown are all latter-day monikers. Tbh, I don’t really recall that area of town having a name. When I was a kid, it was mostly a couple of new car dealers and used car lots. It really didn’t get much attention until Florida National Bank built its tower up there in the mid-60’s and moved from 1 N. Orange. They advertised  just about every night on the 6 o’clock news about how much easier it was to use their drive-in tellers instead of fighting downtown traffic (complete with June Cleaverish women in convertibles chatting at a red light).

Interestingly, they didn’t note what part of town it was in, just the names of the streets around the bank.

So, I guess we can call it whatever we want.

Wasn't McNamara Pontiac in the North Quarter? When I first moved here, the old timers in real estate referred to properties that were vacant by their original tenants. 

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

I think that the stopping point in most folks’ minds for downtown is Colonial Drive. That also corresponds with the much older cultural break for old-timers of whether one lives north or south of Colonial.

That line in people’s minds goes back at least to 1950 when OHS was replaced by Edgewater and Boone. If you lived north, your kids went to Edgewater and you supported it. If you lived south, the same but with Boone.

North folks went to Florida Sanitarium and south folks went to Orange Memorial. 
 
Downtown was neutral ground but that was how people thought of things. Obviously, we long since outgrew the line but just as northerners moving to Atlanta start saying “y’all” pretty quickly, it was just a casual part of life here for a long time.

 

 

 

Definitely. Crossing Colonial feels completely different from the rest of downtown to the south. 

I believe the name uptown was government created but not used very often. I discovered it on the neighborhood maps years ago. Also, those same maps made me realize that Thornton park central is not in Thornton park and south Eola is a neighborhood. 

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This is the first time I'm seeing this rendering of The Sevens. I really like the architectual lighting, and hope it actually looks like this.

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I got my hands on a prospectus for the new Holocaust Museum, including a name (Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity) and a Hunton Brady design that matches the width of the original building and e

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spenser1058 Gigalopolis

spenser1058

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I think McNamara was on Colonial (in front of the Sentinel parking lot) but the used car lot was on N.Orange. By the time I started school, they had moved to W. Colonial and OBT so I have no recollection of it.

Ustler and Rampy found the name Thornton Park on a plat from the ‘20’s, but the name had long since fallen out of use when they brought it back (at least that was the story I was told). When they started, TP was mostly about restoring the area east of Summerlin. TPC came later when the idea to turn the Realtors’ HQ into a Publix foundered over a desire to put gas pumps in (not sure if that was a Pix for Publix or a rebuilt 7–Eleven - they were also part of the deal). 

Anyway, I’m guessing the South Eola name may have been similar. It was not one I ever heard growing up.
 

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cwetteland Burg

cwetteland

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15 hours ago, jack said:

Wasn't McNamara Pontiac in the North Quarter? When I first moved here, the old timers in real estate referred to properties that were vacant by their original tenants. 

I only recall McNamara on W Colonial and OBT ... but Spenser is probably right about it previously being nearer to Sentinel.  I do recall an American Motors dealership in the NQ.   Ramblers, Gremlins Javelins Eagles and Jeeps.  

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JFW657 Metropolitan Area

JFW657

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1 hour ago, cwetteland said:

I only recall McNamara on W Colonial and OBT ... but Spenser is probably right about it previously being nearer to Sentinel.  I do recall an American Motors dealership in the NQ.   Ramblers, Gremlins Javelins Eagles and Jeeps.  

That's where I recall it being, though it could have once been at another location.

McNamaraPontiac_01_1000.jpg

The dealership I remember being in NQ was Braun Cadillac.

Managed to snap this screenshot before the OS paywall popped up,

From an article about VMC that came up after I did a Google search for a former downtown Cadillac dealership...

 

brauncadillac.png

 

I used to pop into their service/repair shop when I'd be up in that area riding my bicycle on hot days and needed a drink of water. Their drinking fountain, located just inside the big roll up door had the ice-coldest water in town.

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spenser1058 Gigalopolis

spenser1058

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McKellar Cadillac (later Braun) was at the spot where Orange Ave. jogged left to head south and Garland was right behind it.

Reed Motors was the longtime AMC dealer on Garland just south of Colonial. 

When McKellar-Braun left downtown, Bob Dance opened a dealership there. At that point, Chrysler had just bought AMC/Jeep so it sold all of those and Plymouths and Eagles, too. That worked because Reed had finally moved out to W. Colonial by that time (Reed had added Datsuns to its stable along the way and by the time they moved they became just a Nissan dealer, the new name for Datsun).

McNamara moved to take over the Concord Park Elementary spot in 1964 or so. That much I know because I was supposed to start 1st grade at Concord Park in ‘64. Earlier that spring, I had even gone to the school to register and meet my teacher. Between then and that fall, OCPS sold the property and the school was torn down (it was a clone of what now is the Marks Ave. Senior Center) and McNamara was built. Meanwhile, I got shuffled off to Princeton Elementary.

Side note: about the same time was when OCPS sold Memorial High downtown so it could be torn down for the Robert Meyer Hotel (today’s Metropolitan condos).

Another Chrysler oddity from that same area: I used to think it strange there were two Chrysler dealerships next to each other up by the Orange/Garland split. 

Many years later I found out one was the Chrysler dealer (A.P. Clark, I think) and the other (Simpson Motors) had been the DeSoto dealer. Chrysler discontinued DeSoto and let Simpson sell Chryslers right next door to another Chrysler dealership. 

A.P. Clark eventually moved to Casselberry, Simpson closed and it left Bob Dance free to move in nearby.

 

 

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spenser1058 Gigalopolis

spenser1058

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4 minutes ago, codypet said:

IIRC one of those dealerships (which was in the Bodies By Mahmood building) housed Bill Bryan Fiat.  There was a picture on this forum years ago when they were doing the renovation where the awning was removed to reveal the old paint job from the dealership.

It’s certainly possible but by the time I moved back from Nashville with my Fiat Spider in ‘83, they had moved to WP. Great service department btw - which I got a lot of use out of, given the reliability of Fiats...

Holler Olds used to be along that stretch of Orange Ave. also, before they moved over by what’s now AdventHealth in the mid ‘60’s.

Fwiw, Orange Buick was on Orange south of Colonial, Heintzelman Ford was on Livingston and Holler Chevy was where The Refrigerator now is. 

Collier was I think on Colonial (where the Sentinel parking lot now is) and sold Studebakers. By the time they moved to Western Way, they switched to Jags and MGs.

The Renault dealer (Rehse) was tucked away on Boone Ave. behind First National.
 

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AmIReal Burg

AmIReal

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On 1/1/2021 at 11:24 AM, WAJAS said:

Can we all agree that Uptown has become North Quarter? People I talk to have begun using it as if its common parlance. In that vain, @bic or @sunshine should rename this thread to fit. ("North Quarter / Uptown")

Can this thread be renamed?

Also, it looks like NQ is getting a Taproom in the 7s.

https://www.gravitytaproom.com/

https://www.facebook.com/gravitytaproom/videos/773828793708419

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dcluley98 Town

dcluley98

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7evens has been vacant pretty much "forever" but the fitness place has actually driven some traffic and street activity.  

Glad to see they will fill some of the open spots, although I don't know how much business another bar will get.  The old NQ tavern, now City Pub couldn't pull it off originally despite a decent space and food.  I don't know if just a "tap-room" will be able to pull it off long-term.  I wish them the best, and will try it out, but IMO not going to be viable. 

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popsiclebrandon Burg

popsiclebrandon

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16 hours ago, orlandocity87 said:

"Summer 2023" ...

Have you heard anything about a timeline for La Femme du Fromage? 

I'm honestly just so confused by the entire thing. They could have opened in like 3-4 weeks max after the last place closed if they wanted. They did a little construction work at one point but its mostly sat for years. I don't think any landlord just lets you sit on a place without doing something so have to assume rent is being paid.

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JFW657 Metropolitan Area

JFW657

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19 hours ago, Jernigan said:

Florida League of Cities is looking to demo a 2 story building on 50 at the NW corner of 50 and Irma and replace it with a 4 story office building and add a garage in the rear over an existing parking lot and swale.  

Pretty new looking building.

Screenshot-20230517-085025.jpg

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Uncommon Hamlet

Uncommon

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1 hour ago, prahaboheme said:

Update on the Holocaust museum proposal at the former Chamber site including new renderings :

https://www.growthspotter.com/2023/05/16/holocaust-museum-board-refines-building-design-increases-security/

4EBD1BAD-1790-4E64-BFB1-587FEB3484A9.webp

09AFF4ED-929C-454C-B8D2-689972792407.webp

Love it. Very happy it'll activate that portion of Ivanhoe. Hopefully it gets built before 2030, I know these things can take a lot of time to get off the ground.

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