Lost Jacksonville

[WmNussbaum]

Not a great example, Lake. Orlando is tourist mecca - more hotel rooms than maybe even New York. Hotels can survive in Orlando, but not Jackson - giving a nod to Ron. I hope someone can come up with a use for old City Hall and maybe the courthouse, but I would not invest money in a project that was converting City Hall to a hotel. Would you?

The Robert Meyer: It closed not many years after a group of investors renovated the original hotel and opened it again. They must have taken a huge loss on the project. Who in their right mind would try that again?

[thelakelander]

^When is the last time you've been to Orlando?  Downtown Orlando is not a tourism mecca.  Nevertheless, the example is to show that old buildings can be reused for other uses.  The reuse of structures can happen in Jacksonville just as much as it can happen in Orlando or Savannah. Don't get so caught up on the exact reuse. You shouldn't be so down on the potential of your community.

[Ocklawaha]

Back in post #154 I listed a selection of buildings built in ancient times and still in use today. If the Qufu Confucius Temple (Kong Miao) built in 478 BC can find a new use as a museum of culture, there is simply no excuse for the dynamite mentality in Jacksonville.

What kind of culture doesn't remember and honor their history? Extinct ones!

[tufsu1]

The Robert Meyer: It closed not many years after a group of investors renovated the original hotel and opened it again. They must have taken a huge loss on the project. Who in their right mind would try that again?

What year was that?  has Jacksonville changed at all since then?

[thelakelander]

1982 to be exact. Roughly 30 years ago.

[Tacachale]

WmNussbaum, you are right that not every building is going to find a reuse, and that sometimes buildings are demolished to put in something new. But you ignore the fact that many, many buildings can be and are reused, and that many buildings have been demolished for no gain whatsoever.

One way to look at it is that empty buildings have far more options than empty lots: they can be refurbished, adapted to a new use, or torn down and replaced by something new. On the other hand, empty lots require entirely new construction. Given this, how exactly are empty lots more beneficial or responsible?

[fieldafm]

Not a great example, Lake. Orlando is tourist mecca - more hotel rooms than maybe even New York. Hotels can survive in Orlando, but not Jackson - giving a nod to Ron. I hope someone can come up with a use for old City Hall and maybe the courthouse, but I would not invest money in a project that was converting City Hall to a hotel. Would you?

The Robert Meyer: It closed not many years after a group of investors renovated the original hotel and opened it again. They must have taken a huge loss on the project. Who in their right mind would try that again?

The group of investors Mr Nussbaum is referring to was led by Preston Haskell in 1980 around the time the Prime Osborne was being constructed.  They along with the downtown merchants (rightly) lobbied for the convention center to be located closer to the core (aka taking advantage of clustering) and re-furbished the Robert Meyer into the Holiday Inn City Center to cash in on this convention center business (whose parking garage would later be flooded for nearly a decade after it closed).  When the Prime Osborne site was selected, the downtown merchants pursued legal action and this at least partially led to the construction of the Jacksonville Landing.

The hotel was closed in 1982, so hardly a great example of anything referanced in your post.  Besides, land use and preservation of buildings for future reuse has absolutely nothing to do with the financial viability of a particular use.  You can't arbitrarily pick winners and losers in the marketplace by deciding 'well, no idiot will have the cash to redo this b/c our town is just a perpetual loser so let's just tear this thing down'.

As Lake mentioned, DT Orlando is not at all a tourism spot (that's centered around Kissimmee and the International Drive area).  However land use policies are certainly more favorable to pedestrian scale there and as a result Orlando's downtown has an enviable mix of foot traffic and retail presence.   

[fieldafm]

If Tallahassee just tore down this relic of a building along Monroe and Tennessee Streets that was abandoned for years...



you would have never gotten this:










If they just tore down this old, tired cigarette factory in Durham




you would have never gotten this:

[BackinJax05]

great example Lake....the same could be done with our City Hall Annex or the old JEA building!

That would be perfect for the old City Hall. A pool could be built somewhere on the property, and the 15th floor, with its awesome balcony, would make a great clubhouse.

[BackinJax05]

The Robert Meyer: It closed not many years after a group of investors renovated the original hotel and opened it again. They must have taken a huge loss on the project. Who in their right mind would try that again?

What year was that?  has Jacksonville changed at all since then?

Condos might work today. Oh wait. A bunch of short sighted morons imploded the building back in 98. Never mind

[Timkin]

The Robert Meyer: It closed not many years after a group of investors renovated the original hotel and opened it again. They must have taken a huge loss on the project. Who in their right mind would try that again?

What year was that?  has Jacksonville changed at all since then?

Condos might work today. Oh wait. A bunch of short sighted morons imploded the building back in 98. Never mind

^ We can hope the same fate does not happen to the Ambassador.  A great location, very savable, and a perfect fit for residential.  Unless of course the city decides we need additional vacant lots .

[BackinJax05]

^^ At least the Ambassador wouldnt have to be imploded. Its within reach of a crane & wrecking ball. (said sarcastically)