Another Historic Downtown Demolition In The Works?
January 7, 2015 68 comments
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The Downtown Investment Authority is considering making a portion of downtown a national historic district. Unfortunately, if one property owner has his way, a 105-year-old building will become a vacant lot despite possibly being one of the last vestiges of a turn-of-the-century downtown rooming house district.
A row of rooming houses can be seen on Duval Street, just east of the YMCA Building. Today, this site is occupied by the Library Parking Garage.
The Hotel Seneca was located on the SE corner of Ocean and Duval Streets. The Elena Flats is the building hidden by the palm tree on the left. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/142206
The intersection of Main and Duval Streets shortly after the completion of the Elena Flats. One of the benefits of a rooming house district was being within walking distance of a mix of uses. For rooming houses along East Duval Street, Main Street was the epicenter of activity. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/31346
The intersection of Main and Duval. The Woman's Club on East Duval Street, between Main and Ocean Streets can be seen in the background.
Courtesy of State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/39207.
A 1913 Sanborn map of East Duval Street. The black arrow points to the location of Elena Flats.
The Elena Flats building at 122 East Duval Street today.
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com
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