14 Historic Downtown Sites Unprotected From Demolition

[thelakelander]

In honor of National Historic Preservation Month, here are 14 historic sites in downtown that can be demolished with little to no public notification, participation, or review.

Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/14-historic-downtown-sites-unprotected-from-demolition/

[Charles Hunter]

Great article. I hope all of these can be saved.
Back in my HS Band (Marching and Concert, not Rock!) we would go to Paulus to get sheet music for ensemble competitions. Who knows, I could have been in there with rock greats!

[heights unknown]

If we don't get leadership in that's "for" saving buildings such as these, they will all probably be razed and demolished, adding more empty lots that will sit there until we all are incinerated by nuclear fire. Just kidding. But I just don't see NOTHING, ANYTHING happening until we get good solid leadership in our city government that is FOR downtown Jacksonville.

[thelakelander]

Time for a bit of tactical urbanism. Stay tuned

[Des]

Time for a bit of tactical urbanism. Stay tuned

I've been in (I think) 324 N Broad St relatively recently, the middle of the three buildings, and it's literally falling apart. I would not recommend exploring that building... it may collapse on you. The roof has caved in, the floorboards are soft, and you can poke a finger through most of the brick.

If there were ever a proposal for that site I wouldn't be surprised if tearing it down was the first option.

618 West Adams is pretty nice inside and very salvageable, it would be a very nice place for a lawyers office. There was something about it that's scaring off potential investors, though. I can't remember what it was.

618 West Forsyth Street is still beautiful inside. It would be a shame if they ever tore that down. I think it would be nice if someone built similar sized and era-appropriate buildings on either side of it. There used to be a wood parking garage on the right side of it if you were facing the front. There was a really cold winter one year and some homeless folks started a fire inside of it and burned the structure down.

[thelakelander]

It's in a situation where you'd preserve the facade and rebuild new behind it. That's a step to consider before outright demo that's pretty foreign in Jax but well used in other communities.

[Des]

I think it's in such a state of deterioration that it would be wiser to rebuild the facade to match the existing. You could apply something to reseal the bricks to try and prevent further decay, but if you were going to spend 4-5m on rebuilding the structure, would you really want to keep a crumbling, unsafe facade?

In the case of the Cowford Chophouse, at least they managed to repurpose probably 80% of the street-facing facade during their reconstruction. I don't believe these two buildings are in the same situation.

[thelakelander]

I just walked by it the other day. The facade actually looks fine and salvageable. The roof is another story. A good similar reuse example is on the corner of 11th and Market in Springfield. That brick building's roof had completely collapsed and was in that condition for years. A developer purchased it (probably 10 years ago), kept the four walls, did select demo, put on a new roof and built the interior of the space out.





Cowford Chophouse is another extreme example but that one was seriously expensive. I don't 324 Broad is anywhere near that cost.

[thelakelander]

One of the buildings on this list is currently in flames:



https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/01/09/firefigthers-working-to-douse-massive-blaze-in-downtown-jacksonville/

[acme54321]

I'm sure it's homeless people building heating fires inside the abandoned buildings.  That area has gotten completely over run.

[jaxlongtimer]

^ Per the News4Jax article:

Wyse said he knows the current owners of the building and that there have been issues with homeless people using it as a place to avoid the cold.

In some ways, the City is complicit in these situations.  First, they don't provide enough support for homeless to stay out of these buildings.  Per the above quote, the City clearly knows the homeless will head to these vacant buildings when the temperature hits a certain point yet they apparently have no plan for effectively dealing with it.  Second, by shifting millions of dollars to Lot J type projects, they neglect supporting the restoration/reuse of these buildings that would keep them from being left to these inevitable results over a long enough period of vacancy and neglect.  This demise gives us the same result as letting a vacant building suffer a roof leak and rotting in place.

[thelakelander]

Now with this building and the old bank branch gone next door, the properties will probably be combined for the next Wawa.

[fsu813]

Fyi - the shelters open their doors for whomever on nights it drops to around 40 degrees or below, like tonight. Many people choose not to take advantage.

[bl8jaxnative]

618 West Adams is pretty nice inside and very salvageable, it would be a very nice place for a lawyers office. There was something about it that's scaring off potential investors, though. I can't remember what it was.

It's so nice someone was taking a pic when the google car went by
https://www.google.com/maps/place/618+W+Adams+St,+Jacksonville,+FL+32204/@30.3294393,-81.6653418,3a,69.9y,45.8h,91.96t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6sC1uHyJTPAQ9t-wWqR5UQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D6sC1uHyJTPAQ9t-wWqR5UQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.gws-prod.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D86%26h%3D86%26yaw%3D191.64673%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192!4m5!3m4!1s0x88e5b715b93fd329:0x3c87e1e10a801cb8!8m2!3d30.3292674!4d-81.665381