The Universal Marion Building

[CS Foltz]

Chris.......your making too much sense big fella! So forget it..........City is $58 Million Dollars in the hole and City Hall is concerned about chump change...............I expect it.....from chumps!

[Timkin]

I feel a large part of that defecit is from Staggering salaries paid to what  I call "dead wood" which could range anywhere from our Mayor to consultants, assistants, and assistant to assistants..

[Flcookie]

My brother just sent this website to me as we had been speaking of the building just this week.  I lived in Jax from 1955 til 1992 when I retired from the City of Jacksonville.  My mother-in-law was in charge of the department where all neeedle work, knitting, etc. was sold.  She gave lessons, etc.  She was so talented and as I recall, worked until Ivey's closed the store.  It was a wonderful place to shop and I enjoyed lunches in the Embers many times.
Thanks for this information, especially the person who shared so much of the history of the Masons.  When I graduated from high school, I received a $500 scholarship from Mrs. Crowningshield, who was the sister, I believe, of Alfred Dupont.  That is how I got to Jacksonville to begin with, in 1955 to go to Business School.

[Mike D]

I believe I read on this very website that the Ivey's in the Universal Marion building was one of the last major department stores to be opened in a U-S city's downtown...the big stores were already beginning to move out into the suburbs in the 60's when Ivey's came to Jacksonville.  This was at about the same time the big new Sears opened downtown.  As for the revolving restaurant on the top of the building, it was indeed a spectacular view.  I went one time.  My parents decided my brothers and I should be exposed to a fine dining experience.  Up until that time, our idea of a high-end meal was the fried shrimp at Morrison's cafeteria (which, now that I think about it, I really miss!).  So our family of five went to the Embers one night for dinner.  Of the food I can say nothing, that has faded from my memory.  What I do recall was the amazing panoramic sight of downtown, the river, the bridges, and everything else moving by slowly as the restaurant turned.  Almost fifty years later (!!) my memory of the experience is vivid.  Those were the days when it really felt like Jacksonville was on the move and big things were happening.  Very exciting!

[Timkin]

^ nice memory of Downtown Mike.   Wouldn't it be nice if Ivey's was still downtown, The Embers was still downtown.. Sears ...downtown.  Hotels , Theaters,  Venues that attracted the masses.......


all memories now.   

[thelakelander]

Does anyone remember what Ivey's looked like on the inside and what departments were located on each floor?  Also, did Ivey's have a restaurant?

[Ocklawaha]

Ivey's was more like Sak's 5Th Avenue, then it was Sears or Penny's. My wife was a divisional officer at the Regency Store having moved up from department head at Roosevelt Mall. I'm sure she could tell you a LOT about Ivey's.

The one story that I DO remember, Libia had left the company to be a stay-at-home-MOM, all of the Ivey's employees were very close, J.B. operated the stores like every employee was family. When the Dillards buy-out came, they literally fired every single employee and replaced them without one cent of their 'vested retirement' or 'savings'. I recall some of her co-workers crying because they not only lost the job, but lost EVERYTHING in the process. Perhaps this wasn't a friendly take-over, but I've hated Dillards ever since.

Oh and Dillards also changed the policy on old equipment or unsalable merchandise. Rather then donate to local charities like Ivey's did, Dillard's make/makes their employees bust up the furniture, cut up the clothing, and generally destroy anything that they can't compact. NOTHING went to local charities as, 'They might open up competing stores!'

[fieldafm]

So our family of five went to the Embers one night for dinner.  Of the food I can say nothing, that has faded from my memory.  What I do recall was the amazing panoramic sight of downtown, the river, the bridges, and everything else moving by slowly as the restaurant turned.  Almost fifty years later (!!) my memory of the experience is vivid.

That's pretty much the same experience my dad had from those days.  They went to Embers to celebrate his brothers' good end of year report cards. 

First time I took him to Skyline Cafe atop the Bank of America Building he went on and on about how we were getting 'Embers views for the cost of a Publix sub'. 

He tells me that the floor would complete it's 360degree rotation in 'about the time it takes an adult to eat a light meal'.

[darctones]

They hold Toastmasters meetings (and other large public meetings) on the 18th floor.  There is a great view of downtown and Friendship Fountain.

As a side note, when the Jacksonville Electric Authority purchased the Water Dept from the City of Jacksonville they changed their name to JEA.  So, JEA is no longer an acronym, it's their actual name. 

[HisBuffPVB]

For a while , the administrative offices and downtown classrooms of FCCJ were located in the building as the new downtown campus was being built. JEA was in the old Independent Life Bldg, as the Chamber of Commerce was in the old Gulf Life buildings. JEA has saved the building. The rotating restaurant, by the early 70s had stopped being a top of the line restaurant. Jacksonville has lost some great restaurants, Bernie's in the Roosevelt, The Green Turtle out Phillips Highway, and the Derby House in Riverside.  This is not to say that the old restaurants have been replaced with newer good and outstanding restaurants. I am not sure what the Universal Marion corporation did but when the building was constructed it was thought this would add to the revitalization of downtown along with Ivey's department store adjacent. Alas, the department stores followed their market to the "burbs".

[Charles Hunter]

Minor nit ... t'was the Green Derby in Riverside - where the BCBS (oops "Florida Blue") building is now.

[thelakelander]

I am not sure what the Universal Marion corporation did but when the building was constructed it was thought this would add to the revitalization of downtown along with Ivey's department store adjacent. Alas, the department stores followed their market to the "burbs".

The Universal Marion Building, Ivey's and the garage that had Purcell's in it were a joint venture development by the May Company and S.S. Jacobs Company in 1960.  May had just acquired Cohens.  May did a major revamp of the Cohen's store that was complemented by the infill department stores, Universal Marion Building and shared parking deck. Ivey's just happened to be the last phase of that development to open when it was completed in 1962. 

In a way, the project did pump life into that area of downtown. Retail sales in downtown were at a major high in the 60s and 70s, despite openings and major expansions by Regency, Orange Park, Gateway, Roosevelt, Normandy and Philips Malls. Ivey's downtown store lasted over 20 years at that location before closing with just about everything else in downtown in 1985.  May-Cohens only survived three more years, closing in 1988 after being around since 1867. 

While the suburban malls were popular, there were a lot of other factors at play that killed downtown.  If we would have properly addressed them, we could have been one of the few remaining American cities today that have vibrant downtown and suburban retail.

[I-10east]

Here's an interesting story about the old Charter Co. on JDR.

www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=542756

[Wacca Pilatka]

Thanks, I-10!

[TheGeo35]

History ‎Jacksonville‬ is back with an amazing show about the illustrious past of the JEA Headquarters at Main & Church Streets. Many years before the JEA moved in, it was the corporate headquarters for some interesting companies and The Ivey's Department Store. https://youtu.be/RXYmkjfmCTY