Disappearing Brooklyn: The Riverside Atlantic Bank

[Metro Jacksonville]

Disappearing Brooklyn: The Riverside Atlantic Bank





Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-nov-disappearing-brooklyn-the-riverside-atlantic-bank

[strider]

I never would have guessed at the original appearance of that building. I suspect the interior was changed as much.  It is also interesting to see the old vault still standing.  Probably a bit more than the excavator can handle.

[Tacachale]

Get your pictures of Park Street while you still can...

[thelakelander]

I have a good collection from MJ articles over the past decade. Should make for an interesting Ghost of Park Street article at some point in the near future.

[mtraininjax]

Is there a Ghost of Riverside from when the DOT leveled everything in its path in the effort to make it 6 lanes from downtown to Forest Street?

Yeah, the same area all the hypocrites who live at Unity Plaza, shop a the Fresh Market and dine at BurgerFi... They should know what was torn down for them and their new heralded space.

[Houseboat Mike]

Is there a Ghost of Riverside from when the DOT leveled everything in its path in the effort to make it 6 lanes from downtown to Forest Street?

Yeah, the same area all the hypocrites who live at Unity Plaza, shop a the Fresh Market and dine at BurgerFi... They should know what was torn down for them and their new heralded space.

looking in the archive I found this, however the article appears to be gone?

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2006-sep-disappearing-brooklyn-saving-what

[thelakelander]

Here's the 2006 article. I have no idea of why it isn't showing up.

Brooklyn was platted in 1865 by Miles Price, a Confederate veteran, who named a couple of the streets after famous Southern generals “Stonewall” and “Jackson”. By the time it was annexed into Jacksonville, it boasted over 1,000 residents. After decades of neglect, two mega infill projects were recently announced potentially giving the community a new identity, with 1,750 additional housing units. While this will be a boon for the community, Metro Jacksonville urges the Mayor and the JEDC to save and incorporate Brooklyn’s few remaining historic structures into those plans, preserving a link to the community’s past.

Brooklyn Photo Tour

Brooklyn housing
Years ago, Brooklyn was a vibrant inner city community with a diverse collection of housing. Although in very poor shape, this house on Spruce Streets still stands.


Elm Street Shotgun Houses
During Brooklyn’s heyday, shotgun housing was the norm. Although over the years this form of housing in the neighborhood has died out, this row of homes on Elm Street still remains.


Magnolia Homes
Most of the homes, east of Park have already been demolished. However, this one block of Magnolia gives us a glimpse of what Brooklyn once looked like.


Brooklyn Mixed-Use Development sites
Brooklyn Park (Miles Development) and Hallmark Partners projects will inject new infill mixed-use development into Brooklyn. Once constructed, these projects will take up nearly ½ of the area today known as Brooklyn.


Skyway Maintenance Yard
As a part of the Miles and Hallmark infill development projects, JTA plans to construct an elevated skyway station at this site. Once complete, this will give Brooklyn residents the option of traveling to the North and Southbanks without the use of automobiles or buses.


Riverside Partners</strong
The 13 story Riverside Partners office building is the latest addition to Brooklyn. Directly next to it is Fire Station #5, which was constructed in 1910 and is the last remaining historic structure on this Riverside Avenue stretch. Unfortunately, the JEDC wants to demolish or remove the building. If the old fire station, which is still in good shape, isn’t worth saving then what is?


Park Street Commercial corridor
Park Street is littered with a collection of older warehouses, many of which catered to the textile industry. As the neighborhood is revitalized into a vibrant community, hopefully city leaders will see the potential in saving a few of the older structures, such as this brick building, on the corner of Park and Jackson Streets.


ALSCO
This attractive brick warehouse/manufacturing facility is home to a textile company called ALSCO. As the neighborhood reinvents itself, city planners should do everything in their power to save unique structures like this because they provide a direct connection with the community’s past.


The Dance Warehouse
The Dance Warehouse is housed in a small, attractive brick commercial building that was originally constructed in 1927. The location and interesting brick detailing is ideal for potential retail or dining overlooking the planned Brooklyn Central Park. Unfortunately, the city plans to demolish the structure for green space.


Intersection of Jackson & Chelsea Streets
This old small store is located a block west of Park on Jackson Street.


643 Edison
For those who don’t see the value in saving the few older brick buildings this city has, 643 Edison is a good example of what these structures can resemble, once fully renovated.


Myrtle Avenue
This street connects Brooklyn with Durkeeville. This picture was taken just north of the McCoy’s Creek bridge.


Annie Lytle (Public School No. 4)
You can’t mention Brooklyn and preservation without bringing up the endangered Annie Lytle school. Constructed in 1917, a developer and the JEDC are currently pushing for its demolition in order to construct a retirement home on the site. If anyone has any ideas towards saving it or believes in preserving it, let your opinions be made known to Councilmen Shad (AShad@coj.net, (904) 630-1382) and Corrigan (Corrigan@coj.net, (904) 630-1390).


Riverside Avenue (Before & After)
Once a 5 lane road lined with commercial buildings, Riverside Avenue now boasts 6 lanes of traffic, bicycle paths, wide medians and wide sidewalks. While the improvements were needed, the planning did a disservice to the community by turning the road into a suburban highway, instead of an urban parkway.

[thelakelander]

Btw, this building has also been torn down recently.



Dating back to 1930, it was the last commercial storefront on the west side of Brooklyn that was not located on Park Street. It originally housed a neighborhood market owned by Syrian immigrants Assof and Mary Naaseef.  Here's the site as of this past Saturday:

[JeffreyS]

I probably fall in the camp of happy with an extensive remake of Brooklyn (Park street in particular)with a few of the old buildings remodeled for contrast. 

[vicupstate]

When the River City Renaissance initiative was in development under then Mayor Ed Austin, there was funding included for Brooklyn to be leveled just as there was for LaVilla. Eventually the Brooklyn funding got cut and only LaVilla got leveled. Now it is happening anyway. 

LaVilla has been laid bare for decades now.  While Riverside Ave. through Brooklyn has seen new construction, I have to wonder if the rest of Brooklyn will ever be filled in again.

[Tacachale]

^Apparently so, if private companies are buying up the land.

[Adam White]

Is "Da Tunnel" still around?

[E_Dubya]

It seems to me that people on this site want development, but they only want it their way. What was going on in Brooklyn before the latest devleopment? Not much. I agree it would be nice if some of the older buildings (such as the Fire Station) could be implemented in the rebranding and revitalization of the neighborhood, but from a development standpoint, when a building has ben left to rot for years, there's either the reality that nothing can be done to salvage or that it would be an absurd investment to do so based on the cost to refurbish building corpses.

LaVilla was leveled, and I think we can all agree that demolition without any outcome other than parking surfaces is just a damn shame. What's worse for Brooklyn (and Jacksonville in general): Empty storefronts and cheap land or new storefronts and high demand for dirt in the area?

I can understand the reservation felt towards rebuilding areas based on how mismanaged attempts in this city have been in the past. However, not all development is inherently bad.

[Tacachale]

I can't speak for anyone else, but my only issues with Brooklyn are (1) that the city isn't getting the developers to stick to urban design, a la the Brooklyn Station stripmall, and (2)that now that the already-razed land has been developed, development is now taking out perfectly usable buildings instead of moving over to the various other vacant spaces nearby.

Yes, Park Street is just a bunch of warehouses, but most of them are still in use, and the street could be turned into something really cool without much work. Demolishing them means taking a step back to take 2 steps forward, rather than, say, 2 steps forward in an already empty block. But yes, if they have to come down it's much better that a development replaces them than nothing. I just hope the city makes sure it's not another strip mall.

[vicupstate]

Empty storefronts and cheap land or new storefronts and high demand for dirt in the area?

People too often associate 'empty' with unuseable or unsalvageable.  Many vacant buildings simply need cosmetics and minor structural repairs. It is far easier to achieve organic growth with such structures than expecting new start ups to have the funds to build new from the ground up, which will never be inexpensive.   

Building a new multi-block area from the ground up in an urban area is not typical of most cities. Incremental revitalization of mostly existing structures, such that occurred in Five Points/Riverside, is pretty common.  Maybe Brooklyn will fit the mold of the latter and not the former, but I am skeptical.