Ten Historic Springfield Demolitions

[JaxUnicorn]

Conrad, thank you for your heartfelt post.  I share your feelings and am so very glad that our fight to save historic Springfield homes is what sparked you to make your first MetroJax post.  Welcome!  Check out www.preservationsos.org if you'd like to join our grassroots organization to SAVE THE HOUSES!

[ChriswUfGator]

Having had years of contentious losses due to the zealots in the Dept of Code Enforcement in various areas
of the county.  I can comment on one specific to Springfield.
Having been in and out of Springfield for over 50 yrs., growing up,, carrying mail at the 8th St. P. office
etc. I remember an ever changing downward spiral that Springfield has begun to finally turn around.

Having worked with RAP since it's inception in 1973 working for homeowners there and in Springfield before
it had a formal preservation organization, I remember a classic example of a long condemned boarded up
house at app. 226 E 4th St.  I remember it specifically because I was asked by reps. of a UNF fraternity had
the opportunity to invest in saving it in 1989 due to a well meaning benefactor.  I was asked to "walk it and
assess whether it was salvageable and at what cost.  We went into a house that had been completely vandalized, all the mantels, period moudings, stair rail were ripped out.  The frat boys weren't interested in
something smacking of real work so they passed on it.  As I worked in and out of the neighborhood I watched
tat house remain boardedup for app. 18 yrs. and mysteriously someone unboarded and took the care to restore that house that had for all intents and appearances sat abandoned for probably 25 yrs.

OI invite anyone to ride by there now and imagine it as a 2 story version of the worst in the pictures above,
now an eyepleasing liveable salvaged former ingot of blight (according to those who use tht rubberstamp
opinion of all they find in need of updating and repair).  Put Kim Scott at the head of that list of rubber
stampers.  She is possibly the most vindictive and ruthless of all the Chiefs of Prop. Safety I have dealt with
over more than 25 years as an owner contractor.

Conrad Markle

Conrad, so very glad to see you pop up on here, would you please PM me with a phone number? What a small world, PSOS has specifically been trying to get ahold of you, we heard about what happened with your father and MCCD, and we'd all very much like to meet you and speak with you, that is if you'll have us.

[JayBird]

Well it is certainly a shame to see some of these gone, I remember thinking that that Jewish Center on 3rd and Silver was just destined for success to be redeveloped.  With it being right across from the park, within walking distance of Main Street and even DT.  Was so disappointed the morning we watched it burn on the news.  Hopefully something worthwhile can still go there.

However, I can say all the demolitions were not the cause of the city.  These two pictures show the property that was 1723?? Boulevard.  Facing the two towers of SHANDS (former University Hospital??) for which were told that these buildings and the one still standing at 1715 were dormitories for the students at that hospital.  The non-profit I work for, Prisoners of Christ, operates apartments in the remaining building and had tried to save those other structures, but they were in need of major work.  And even with the backing of Ed Austin and WW Gay we just didn't have the necessary resources.  I remember the preservationists had tried to save them, something about the design was unique to that period of building which I cannot recall now.

However, after sitting empty it attracted a criminal element that had gotten out of control.  Incan remember stopping by our apartments on a Saturday morning and seeing numerous lost souls just hanging out there.  The police were called a lot and then it came to be that once or twice a month fire rescue would be called to remove someone who had passed over the night.  Being that we house men coming out of prison, the neighbor was not the best to have.  So it was actually our organization, with the help of prominent board members, who pushed the city to demolish.  The day before it was taken down, we walked through with a city building inspector and the floors were falling into the basement (a basement in Florida!) and there were crack pipes and tin foil and needles everywhere. 

Maybe the city contributed by not assuring preservation before it was too late, or by not running the nomads out of there.  But the city authorities at the time did not want this building removed, they wanted it rehabbed.  Today it is just a grass lot. A real estate firm in Ft Lauderdale is trying to offer it for a little over $1.2m last time I checked.  It will stay a grass lot for a while.

[ChriswUfGator]

JayBird, your compass is ever so slightly off. Those two pictures were the former Lampru Court apartments between the shell station and my old quad plex at 1719 perry street. I'd recognize that building anywhere, and it's a travesty that it came down. A highly unique building by a highly unique architect, and for the record completely salvageable. I have seen far worse successfully and profitably rehabbed, that didn't even have the benefit of being made of concrete. There was no reason the building had to be demolished. I was inside several times, almost bought it, before I got outbid by folks who promptly tore it down and then did nothing with the property. Why? Who knows. Just one more bad decision in a decade-long series of bad decisions that have resulted in the demolition of a full 1/3'rd of a national historic district.

[thelakelander]

Jaybird, I never blamed any particular entity for the demolition of the buildings in the images I posted.  I said they came down for a lot of reasons but that doesn't change the fact that they are gone.

[JayBird]

JayBird, your compass is ever so slightly off. Those two pictures were the former Lampru Court apartments between the shell station and my old quad plex at 1719 perry street. I'd recognize that building anywhere, and it's a travesty that it came down. A highly unique building by a highly unique architect, and for the record completely salvageable. I have seen far worse successfully and profitably rehabbed, that didn't even have the benefit of being made of concrete. There was no reason the building had to be demolished. I was inside several times, almost bought it, before I got outbid by folks who promptly tore it down and then did nothing with the property. Why? Who knows. Just one more bad decision in a decade-long series of bad decisions that have resulted in the demolition of a full 1/3'rd of a national historic district.

Nope right on the money, now that you say the name i recognize it immediately, those were the ones.  That person who bought ended up buying them was going to rehab, however they got worse, we complained and the city had it demolished. Somewhere in my filing cabinet I have pictures of day before tear down, will find and post. That brick building you see in the corner of one shot is still there today, that's ours.  That was my first introduction to Springfield politics LoL As a matter of fact, our building still has the Lampru name over the doorway.  Do you know if they were originally built as dormitories or were they just regular apartments from beginning?

[JayBird]

Jaybird, I never blamed any particular entity for the demolition of the buildings in the images I posted.  I said they came down for a lot of reasons but that doesn't change the fact that they are gone.

Yes, and if you read my post I never said you did.  Others had posted various city entities and I was just stating this wasn't the case for these two buildings. 

[thelakelander]

Jaybird, I never blamed any particular entity for the demolition of the buildings in the images I posted.  I said they came down for a lot of reasons but that doesn't change the fact that they are gone.

Yes, and if you read my post I never said you did.  Others had posted various city entities and I was just stating this wasn't the case for these two buildings. 

But these two buildings were not included in the article the others have been referring to.  I added them within the comment section to simply show other structures that have been lost in recent years.

[ChriswUfGator]

JayBird, your compass is ever so slightly off. Those two pictures were the former Lampru Court apartments between the shell station and my old quad plex at 1719 perry street. I'd recognize that building anywhere, and it's a travesty that it came down. A highly unique building by a highly unique architect, and for the record completely salvageable. I have seen far worse successfully and profitably rehabbed, that didn't even have the benefit of being made of concrete. There was no reason the building had to be demolished. I was inside several times, almost bought it, before I got outbid by folks who promptly tore it down and then did nothing with the property. Why? Who knows. Just one more bad decision in a decade-long series of bad decisions that have resulted in the demolition of a full 1/3'rd of a national historic district.

Nope right on the money, now that you say the name i recognize it immediately, those were the ones.  That person who bought ended up buying them was going to rehab, however they got worse, we complained and the city had it demolished. Somewhere in my filing cabinet I have pictures of day before tear down, will find and post. That brick building you see in the corner of one shot is still there today, that's ours.  That was my first introduction to Springfield politics LoL As a matter of fact, our building still has the Lampru name over the doorway.  Do you know if they were originally built as dormitories or were they just regular apartments from beginning?

There were several buildings around named Lampru, back then many landlords in Springfield and Riverside gave their buildings names, in this case Lampru Court, Lampru Gardens, etc. Unfortunately I think you have the last Lampru left. But it was built originally as the Lampru Court apartments, designed by Henrietta Dozier, and was an apartment building from the beginning. It is covered in Wayne Wood's book if you have a copy.

And now that I double-checked, I must be losing my mind. It is one block from Perry on Boulevard, it seems like yesterday I was turning 22, now apparently I've reached the stage that I can't remember the location of my own apartment buildings. Where does the time go?

[m74reeves]

it was on boulevard, but can't pull up a pic of it from the SIAA site (great resource BTW).

this vacant lot is owned by tarpon (which sounds like it is in the midst of legal issues if i recall from annie lytle school post) and has at least $130K in City liens. So, in a sense, the neighborhood is violated all over again even though the building is long gone.

[JayBird]

JayBird, your compass is ever so slightly off. Those two pictures were the former Lampru Court apartments between the shell station and my old quad plex at 1719 perry street. I'd recognize that building anywhere, and it's a travesty that it came down. A highly unique building by a highly unique architect, and for the record completely salvageable. I have seen far worse successfully and profitably rehabbed, that didn't even have the benefit of being made of concrete. There was no reason the building had to be demolished. I was inside several times, almost bought it, before I got outbid by folks who promptly tore it down and then did nothing with the property. Why? Who knows. Just one more bad decision in a decade-long series of bad decisions that have resulted in the demolition of a full 1/3'rd of a national historic district.

Nope right on the money, now that you say the name i recognize it immediately, those were the ones.  That person who bought ended up buying them was going to rehab, however they got worse, we complained and the city had it demolished. Somewhere in my filing cabinet I have pictures of day before tear down, will find and post. That brick building you see in the corner of one shot is still there today, that's ours.  That was my first introduction to Springfield politics LoL As a matter of fact, our building still has the Lampru name over the doorway.  Do you know if they were originally built as dormitories or were they just regular apartments from beginning?

There were several buildings around named Lampru, back then many landlords in Springfield and Riverside gave their buildings names, in this case Lampru Court, Lampru Gardens, etc. Unfortunately I think you have the last Lampru left. But it was built originally as the Lampru Court apartments, designed by Henrietta Dozier, and was an apartment building from the beginning. It is covered in Wayne Wood's book if you have a copy.

And now that I double-checked, I must be losing my mind. It is one block from Perry on Boulevard, it seems like yesterday I was turning 22, now apparently I've reached the stage that I can't remember the location of my own apartment buildings. Where does the time go?

Thanks for the history, has always wondered what the Lampru name was about.  And don't feel bad, I turn 33 in October and already feel like I have Alzheimer's sometime.

[JayBird]

Jaybird, I never blamed any particular entity for the demolition of the buildings in the images I posted.  I said they came down for a lot of reasons but that doesn't change the fact that they are gone.

Yes, and if you read my post I never said you did.  Others had posted various city entities and I was just stating this wasn't the case for these two buildings. 

But these two buildings were not included in the article the others have been referring to.  I added them within the comment section to simply show other structures that have been lost in recent years.

As was noted when I quoted them from you.  A million apologies for any misinterpretations I caused or any misgivings on my part.

[thelakelander]

No worries. No big deal to me.  Just enjoying the conversation.

[sheclown]

The non-profit I work for, Prisoners of Christ, operates apartments in the remaining building and had tried to save those other structures, but they were in need of major work.  And even with the backing of Ed Austin and WW Gay we just didn't have the necessary resources.  I remember the preservationists had tried to save them, something about the design was unique to that period of building which I cannot recall now.

However, after sitting empty it attracted a criminal element that had gotten out of control.  Incan remember stopping by our apartments on a Saturday morning and seeing numerous lost souls just hanging out there.  The police were called a lot and then it came to be that once or twice a month fire rescue would be called to remove someone who had passed over the night.  Being that we house men coming out of prison, the neighbor was not the best to have.  So it was actually our organization, with the help of prominent board members, who pushed the city to demolish.  The day before it was taken down, we walked through with a city building inspector and the floors were falling into the basement (a basement in Florida!) and there were crack pipes and tin foil and needles everywhere.

JayBird, this makes me so sad.  Especially this line:

Being that we house men coming out of prison, the neighbor was not the best to have.

Now that building is lost to the neighborhood, forever.  And why?  Because it needed structural work?  Don't they all.

Because vagrants weren't good neighbors? 

NIMBYISM knows no bounds.

That being said,    I am impressed by the work you do for those just getting out of prison.  I think our city is better for it, without any doubt.    But just because I admire your work, it doesn't mean that I'm not upset by the loss of a historic building and your role in it.

[JayBird]

No, completely understand SheClown.  I am ashamed that we couldn't have found another way to resolve the issues and save the buildings as looking at this post on Facebook, which is what brought me to this thread, those buildings held a lot of memories.  Sometimes, in the pursuit of a righteous action much wrong can be done.  I am reminded of the Amish interpretation of a famous adage, "for you must break a few eggs to make an omelet yet you forget that the chicken will not produce forever".