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Orlando History


spenser1058

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On 10/31/2022 at 7:40 PM, AmIReal said:

The next Downtown Historic Walking Tour is Friday, November 04, 2022.

https://www.downtownorlando.com/Fun/Events/Historic-Walking-Tour

I did one earlier this year and enjoyed it. Actually with a lot of out of towners that wanted to know more about our little city. Do it if you get a chance (a comment for everyone reading this).

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On 11/8/2022 at 8:45 AM, codypet said:

Funny in 1929, that would have been way out of town.

When did it close?

This article from The Sentinel describes the club's heyday as being from the late 20's to the mid 40's.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2005-01-02-0412310253-story.html

Might've hung around a couple more years as business declined, so likely around the late 40's to early 50's. 

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1 hour ago, AmIReal said:

Forts, Jernigan (X2), questionable namesakes and Walt's parents. A 50,000-foot view of the area's history.

https://www.mouseplanet.com/13264/Orlando_and_Walt_Disneys_Ancestors

A strange little bit of trivia briefly mentioned in your article is that Walt Disney's parents were the recipients of the very first marriage license ever issued in Lake County. 

They also talk about it in this episode of Central Florida Roadtrip, which was also mentioned in the article....

 

Worth a watch if you have 20 minutes to spare.

I really enjoy this show. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
26 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

Then and now of above picture.....

Screenshot-20221204-172833-2.jpg

Screenshot-20221207-100828.jpg 

Looks like the original Publix building (with added on section) is still there. 

That was the Publix I shopped at when I graduated from high school and lived at the Sand Lake trailer park just north of Yogi Bear campground on Turkey Lake Rd.

It was the closest Publix - the closest Winn-Dixie was at Kirkman and Conroy.

The Publix was replaced by one at Skyview Village about the time Florida Mall finally opened (there had been a sign announcing the mall since the late 1960’s but didn’t open until 1986; it was completely underwhelming as the only anchors were Sears, JCPenney and Belk - the only interesting thing about it was the hotel) Meanwhile, the Publix became a Circuit City ‘til they went belly up. I have no idea what’s there now because that part of town is a traffic disaster.

Edited by spenser1058
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On 12/7/2022 at 10:51 AM, spenser1058 said:

That was the Publix I shopped at when I graduated from high school and lived at the Sand Lake trailer park just north of Yogi Bear campground on Turkey Lake Rd.

It was the closest Publix - the closest Winn-Dixie was at Kirkman and Conroy.

The Publix was replaced by one at Skyview Village about the time Florida Mall finally opened (there had been a sign announcing the mall since the late 1960’s but didn’t open until 1986; it was completely underwhelming as the only anchors were Sears, JCPenney and Belk - the only interesting thing about it was the hotel) Meanwhile, the Publix became a Circuit City ‘til they went belly up. I have no idea what’s there now because that part of town is a traffic disaster.

I'll field this, since my highschool years were in Dr. Phillips.

After Circuit City, it sat abandoned for years until becoming a Goodwill retail store (moving their retail location from the old Montgomery Ward just north of there).  Goodwill closed in late 2018 and it sat abandoned again until it was heavily modified and turned into a Five Below and Marshalls (which moved from the Target plaza on mall property.)  I would love to know the logic of removing the canopy over the sidewalk so that now if you're walking in the plaza you're no longer protected from the elements.

image.thumb.png.20060eb6a4e70524bee37d414aec9310.pngimage.thumb.png.b286844d2d3dd7113f1d246d42ac8868.png

Edited by codypet
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  • 2 weeks later...

Older buildings have pretty much fallen out of favor for corporate users these days.

Residential or boutique hotel would make more sense. Given downtown occupancy levels, the former would be more likely.

The city has shown no interest in support or incentives for the historic district in this administration and until downtown’s reputation improves, the private firms that specialize in restoration are likely to pass.

1 hour ago, codypet said:

From what I can tell, its sat empty since 2008.  Going so far as having the loading area completely boarded up since 2017.

I don’t think it’s been used since FAMU moved out.

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The floors have to be too small to truly be useful for office space nowadays.  Unless you're s super small company.  Also I suspect they're looking at multiple floors and a long term lease to warrant the infrastructure it would need to reopen.  Also its not exactly easy to access for buildout deliveries.  Its a shame though, because its a very nice building.

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On 12/29/2022 at 11:06 AM, spenser1058 said:

 

I don’t think it’s been used since FAMU moved out.

Before FAMU was there my division of the health department was there from maybe 1999 to mid 2001. I think we were on the 4th floor and as I remember it it was very chopped up with no flow and really no one room was big enough for staff meetings. (there were approximately 30-35 of us) We were the only office in the building and at first the elevator didn't work so all our files stayed downstairs on the first floor. Lots of exercise for a month or two. Was glad to have a field job and be out of the office most of the day.

Our parking lot was at Washington and Garland and each morning the walk to the office included playing "where's the puke this morning?" Also, the day I broke my little toe out in the field the walk to the office seemed extra long. (now I could probably have done the workers comp paperwork online!) I think we moved back to the DOH campus on Central because it was just too inconvenient for the public to get to us to pull permits.

The best part about working in that building was we had a great view of the Citrus Bowl Parade.

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On 12/31/2022 at 10:54 AM, JFW657 said:

I'm thinking that a good use for the building might be to open up the ground floor and maybe the 2nd floor to some kind of dining/entertainment/ retail use, then lease out the rest of the floors for commercial storage.  

That's exactly that the for lease sign says.  Lease for restaurant space.  I think someone on here might be right about it being decently suited for residential.  Gutting it and turning it into lofts.

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