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Mills/50


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44 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

True, but those places are pretty generic to every town they operate in, so it's not really a reflection on Orlando per se,

I can accept that those generic buildings pop up everywhere.  My main gripe is putting such a boring building in such an interesting area, especially on such a prominent corner. 

Maybe it made more sense back in the 80s.

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3 minutes ago, elefants said:

I can accept that those generic buildings pop up everywhere.  My main gripe is putting such a boring building in such an interesting area, especially on such a prominent corner. 

Maybe it made more sense back in the 80s.

I was thinking it was a little later in the early ‘90’s during the “Reign of the Red Chair” with Mayor Glenda but @JFW657 may be right. I need more of those brain teasers to keep my memory sharp.

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1 hour ago, elefants said:

I can accept that those generic buildings pop up everywhere.  My main gripe is putting such a boring building in such an interesting area, especially on such a prominent corner. 

Maybe it made more sense back in the 80s.

Also, as I mentioned, the main entrance used to be on that chamfered/angled  corner at Mills and Colonial, possibly with an awning over the doorway.

Made it look less like a bunker.

There were possibly some other architectural/signage features on it that were altered/removed/covered up when CVS took it over.

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4 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Also, as I mentioned, the main entrance used to be on that chamfered/angled  corner at Mills and Colonial, possibly with an awning over the doorway.

Made it look less like a bunker.

There were possibly some other architectural/signage features on it that were altered/removed/covered up when CVS took it over.

I thought that entrance was long gone before CVS took over.

6 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

The battle over CVS almost exploded when they wanted to tear down the Kazarian (“you know the number”) building across the street as well as the historic buildings on either side.

A near disaster to the “Little Saigon” (now Mills/50) District was avoided when JCPenney opted to sell Eckerd and CVS ended up with the monstrosity across the street.

I remember the protests over that CVS.  Interesting story is that a friend of mine while I was in school was working full time for a site/civil firm with CVS as a client.  He was working crazy hours after school on a ton of CVS sites that he kept describing as literally across the street from Eckerd/Walgreen's with 1 more parking space and like 100 more sqft.  One day he came into the office angry because he learned all those late nights were for naught because those CVS's weren't getting built.   He said at the time, the higher ups from CVS took the plans, showed them to the higher ups at JCPenney and said "we're going to build everyone of these stores across from yours unless you sell the Eckerd chain down here to us".  JCPenney not in the position to compete, did just that.  We didn't completely buy it until Eckerd started turning into CVS.  If he made it up, it was a hell of coincidence.  I'm inclined to believe that's how it happened though.

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Thinking back about Eckerd I’m reminded of working on Jack Eckerd’s 1978 campaign for governor back when I was still *gasp!* a registered member of the GOP.. Jack was what is now an extinct species - a moderate Republican.

That campaign was amazing because his opponent, Bob Graham, started his work days so he could portray himself as a workaday Everyman while making Jack  appear as some out of touch rich guy since his name appeared on every other shopping center in the state. 

Jack was certainly not a pauper but the Graham family (who developed Miami Lakes and Bob’s stepbrother was married into the Washington Post fortune) had a net worth much higher.

It was a memorable campaign where either candidate would have made a great governor.

Anyway, a picture of what used to be on that corner:

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/14341
Don’t blame Eckerd for taking out the Vogue theater, though. After an infamous end showing X-rated movies, it was replaced by an early ‘70’s Enco (now Exxon) ranch-style service station.

Edited by spenser1058
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44 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

I wonder if that marquee sign is still in existence, possibly at the sign museum?

I’d be surprised if it were as it was torn down before Hugh McKean really got going with his collection. The only way it likely was saved is if someone else held on to it for some reason and donated it later. I haven’t seen any mention of it anywhere , though.

 

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Wasn’t the Cameo a movie theater too? A little surprising this would have operated so closely to that one, unless they didn’t operate simultaneously.

Regardless, that’s a cool building. Given the increasing interest in mining Orlando’s history for inspiration, it’d be great to see the Vogue make a triumphant return to Mills50 - as a restaurant? Bar? Covid testing site?

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37 minutes ago, orlandoguy said:

Wasn’t the Cameo a movie theater too? A little surprising this would have operated so closely to that one, unless they didn’t operate simultaneously.

Regardless, that’s a cool building. Given the increasing interest in mining Orlando’s history for inspiration, it’d be great to see the Vogue make a triumphant return to Mills50 - as a restaurant? Bar? Covid testing site?

Both the Cameo and the Vogue opened about 1940. Since in those days each theater showed one movie at a time (and theaters were generally smaller than they would become in the ‘50’s) , two theaters for Colonialtown probably wouldn’t have been much of a stretch (Winter Garden, for example, also had two at the time). Also, the Orlando Army Air Base was bringing in lots of new recruits to Herndon who didn’t have much to do at night and, since this was pre-TV, it wasn’t unusual for folks to go to the movies more than once a week.

Otoh, I don’t think the Cameo lasted all that long. While I remember the Vogue vividly, I was surprised about the former’s existence.

I think what did the Vogue in was the Plaza “Rocking Chair” Theater at Colonial Plaza which opened in the mid-60’s.

Sadly, no one thought about saving much in the early ‘70’s here. Had it not been for the Vietnamese community that arrived in the mid-70’s that bought up the storefronts along that strip (precisely because they were available for a song for immigrants who had the skills but had lost everything after the war), we likely would have lost the entire block.

Recognizing the gems we had and saving them arrived with Mayor Bill in 1980. Sadly, we have moved backward on that front during the last 17 years. Hopefully, our chance will come again.

Edited by spenser1058
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3 minutes ago, codypet said:

Didn't the Vogue become a dirty movie theater at one point too?  I'm sure the surrounding neighborhood wanted it gone if it turned into one of those.

It did. That was its inglorious end. I think that was the last-ditch, if misguided, effort to save it.

Once the Plaza Theater opened, there really wasn’t a good reason to go to the Vogue as the screen was smaller and it hadn’t been maintained.

Ironically, starting with the GCC at Fashion Square in ‘73, East Colonial Dr. would explode with movie screens (although the initial ‘70’s multiplexes were awful compared to theaters like the Parkwood Cinema before GCC totally screwed it up by cutting it in two).

Edited by spenser1058
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38 minutes ago, codypet said:

Didn't the Vogue become a dirty movie theater at one point too?  I'm sure the surrounding neighborhood wanted it gone if it turned into one of those.

That probably didn’t help but at the time the Vogue was getting particularly seedy, the immediate neighborhood was also going through a transient phase so there probably wasn’t much organized resistance.

The North Park Baptist Church members (1 block north - it’s now owned by LHPS) might have raised a ruckus though.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Great project for that area. Fern Creek  20 are a block north and this is the type of density that needs to go along the Colonial corridor on major cross streets like Fern Creek to drive  urbanist redevelopment. The mass of that many more residential units  coming online there within walking distance of a Publix and many great local restaurants is fantastic. Also bike lanes down Fern Creek and  5 great parks within a bout 1.3    miles.   I would certainly  live there!

Edited by dcluley98
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9 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

Nothing. There are already existing bike lanes down fern creek, just not at the intersection because of the turn lanes. 

Okay. I only normally bike Ferncreek from Illinois St. north (to Lake Highland Drive) en route to the urban trail (sometimes in reverse). Cheers.

Edited by Jolly Roger's Crackers
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@Jolly Roger's CrackersTry Illinois, to  Altaloma, to  west on Marks.   Blinky stop sign at Fern Creek, cross Mills with a light, turn North on Hyer to Weber an Terrace up to Highland Park section of OUT. A bit less traffic, on less left turn light at Highland and more fun with turns/hills on Terrace.  

That's the best way to bridge between CadyWay/Lake Druid and OUT on my regular route, IMO. 

You can also use North Hampton to Marks, but there are often a lot of cars on Hampton.

Edited by dcluley98
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