Author Topic: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?  (Read 15440 times)

heights unknown

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #30 on: July 03, 2009, 09:59:21 AM »
That's pretty much what I meant, lake.  I'd like to see something both nice and local go in there.  My dad once told me the lounge at the Ambassador was one of his after-work hangouts when he worked at the Federal Reserve (now the JFRD building) at Julia and Ashley.  That was in the mid-'70s and early '80s.

Your Dad probably didn't tell you that lounge was "off the chain" so to speak; but I'm talking off the chain in a good way.  We had some good times in that lounge, and yes, it was an "after work" hangout for people that lived and worked downtown or near downtown...it was really fab; it was a little seedy, dirty, blue collar if you will but it was good...real good.

Heights Unknown
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JeffreyS

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #31 on: July 03, 2009, 10:08:25 AM »
This is great. A real silver lining on what I consider a bad courthouse design.
The new courthouse design isn't all that bad. At least that thing is under construction.

I really just do not like the size of the foot print.  So many blocks that won't interact with the public.  I do think it will have positive impacts not much is Black and White sometimes you take the bad with the good.
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Jason

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #32 on: July 06, 2009, 08:26:38 AM »
You know, other cities will probably covet our new courthouse for one reason or another.

Back to the Ambassador, GET IT DONE!!!  Apartments would be fantastic and very suitable for young professionals wanting to be close the the government district.

Ocklawaha

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #33 on: July 06, 2009, 10:19:57 AM »
STREETCAR!!

OCKLAWAHA

Ocklawaha

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #34 on: July 06, 2009, 04:46:26 PM »

Your Dad probably didn't tell you that lounge was "off the chain" so to speak; but I'm talking off the chain in a good way.  We had some good times in that lounge, and yes, it was an "after work" hangout for people that lived and worked downtown or near downtown...it was really fab; it was a little seedy, dirty, blue collar if you will but it was good...real good.

Heights Unknown

I've always found that the quality of the establishment is in direct proportion to the proof, and quantity of the whiskey I'm drinking.

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Omarvelous09

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #35 on: July 06, 2009, 05:33:37 PM »
This is great news! Love this building.
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JaxNative68

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #36 on: July 08, 2009, 11:38:16 AM »
screw the new.  please restore the old.

Deuce

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #37 on: July 14, 2009, 09:36:27 AM »
I go out of town and something awesome like this gets announced. I should leave town more often.

Mugatu

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #38 on: July 14, 2009, 11:25:44 PM »
I believe the rendering that was shown on page 2 was the project Hionedes was shopping around a couple of years ago.  Nice picture, but for some reason he seemed to have problems getting any bankers excited about it.  Weird.

thelakelander

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #39 on: July 17, 2009, 12:24:04 AM »
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Jason

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #40 on: July 17, 2009, 03:35:06 PM »
Nice history on the building in that article.

Thanks for posting it Lake.

nolechick7

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #41 on: July 21, 2009, 10:20:43 PM »
Great idea! Upscale apartments or lofts while incorporating retail spaces would be ideal.

Wacca Pilatka

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #42 on: July 22, 2009, 04:38:40 PM »
I wish some of the other older hotels could have been saved, as mentioned many times on this site. 

Does anyone have any specific insights as to why they were torn down (beyond the tear-down frenzy of the 1970s)?  I understand that the AT&T Building was built on the Mayflower site--not that that justifies tearing down the building, but at least it was torn down to be replaced with something--but have never read an explanation for why the Seminole and George Washington were torn down, and both not very long after they went out of service too.  Something to do with the 1971 redevelopment plan that never panned out?

Was the Seminole torn down for the express purpose of the building old Duval Federal office building that was on that corner?
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heights unknown

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #43 on: July 22, 2009, 04:56:59 PM »
Developer wants to turn old hotel into apartments
http://jacksonville.com/business/2009-07-16/story/developer_wants_to_turn_old_hotel_into_apartments

Good news and good article.  Would love to see the old Ambassador busy again and teeming with residents.  Hope they do have some commercial entities in there, including a bar!

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Ocklawaha

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Re: Downtown Hotel to be Restored?
« Reply #44 on: July 22, 2009, 05:35:36 PM »
One would think that the last thing you would want is 'proof' of the whiskey you've drunk Ock.  Neither the medical or the highway safety establishments would appreciate the shock to their systems.

Now Stephen, you do realize that my car has "auto pilot," after all, how else could I crawl into the back seat and sleep whilst driving home?  With a priest as my witness, you also know that a high proof content in my glass goes down in one swallow... How is Father doing these days? I'm just wondering where you guys and gals found enough duct tape that night at TSI. I understand that y'all taped me into an upright position behind the steering wheel because I kept falling over... Hey that seat is very lopsided.

For the rest of you, with certain drinks the proof is the difference between drinking glorified used dish water and a velvet smooth Carmelo sweet drink. For example Southern Comfort comes in a 70 or a 100 proof bottle, ANYONE could tell the difference in a matter of seconds. You pay more for the 100 proof, but the smoothness more then compensates for the dollars.

Let's hope they put in a really nice pub at the old Ambassador. A small mall of local businesses would be fantastic, my favorite place in downtown used to be either the train department of the Cohen Brothers Big Store (today's city hall), or a tiny hobby shop which was about 1 block west of Main and somewhere between about Bay and Duval. Wouldn't it be a trip if something special like that went into the old hotel?

I just expect that this hotel project is the tip of a very big development iceberg. Imagine how big it would be if we included streetcars! People would have to jump out of the way of all the developments.


OCKLAWAHA