May-Cohens: Jacksonville's Big Store
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1592962291_P7W82bT-M.jpg)
Metro Jacksonville highlights the rise and fall of downtown Jacksonville's Big Store: May-Cohens.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-nov-may-cohens-jacksonvilles-big-store
Great article.
I read that the convention center site decision was one of the motivations for Cohen's making that warning announcement in 1982 about a potential future closing. I understand this coincided with the closing of the (Robert Meyer) Holiday Inn as well.
Some really fantastic photos in here.
Great job.
Love these photos, but damn, every time another gets posted I can't help but to think, "If only Jacksonville wasn't burned and subsequently torn down via inane city policies and poor leadership, this place would be another Charleston/Savannah/New Orleans style city." So sad...
^It definitely would. However, my view is the more and more we dig, the more potential we discover that this place has and that we're not starting from scratch. If we can get our head in the game, Jax's future can be just as great as its past.
As you say, Cohens was kind of the anchor store on Hemming Plaza square. Surrounding it were other stores, Penneys, Wooworths, Jacob Jewlers, Morrison's cafeteria. It created a center of town vibe.
I shopped at Cohen's/May-Cohen's for years and eventually worked there in the early 80's. Downtown was a shopping mecca in the 50's and 60's, (I was born in the 50's and worked at Furchgott's in the late 60's.) Cohen's was a very cool store. You could buy most things you needed under one roof. And it had a cool basement. I am so glad I had the opportunity to work at Cohen's, Furchgott's and Ivey's downtown. It was an experience that will never be duplicated in Jacksonville. At least not in my lifetime. During that time, even into the 70's there was a tremendous amount of activity on the streets and most blocks were filled with shops and restaurants. I'm not one to live in the past, but I do miss those downtown days. If you are young or new to the area and never saw downtown when it was vibrant and it wasn't filled with empty lots, you will understand at the remorse for what it has become. Let's just hope that in the very near future it will be revived albeit into a new form. I don't pine for the good old days, but for downtown I do.
Quote from: thelakelander on November 21, 2011, 09:15:12 AM
^It definitely would. However, my view is the more and more we dig, the more potential we discover that this place has and that we're not starting from scratch. If we can get our head in the game, Jax's future can be just as great as its past.
I agree 100%. It all centers on the core though. People don't go to Savannah to hang out in East Savannah and the Northwoods Mall is hardly the high point of a visit to Charleston.
While I want downtown to be just that, a center/core, I do believe Riverside/Avondale is as "core-like" as we're gonna get, and we should work on perfecting that area of town before we over-extend ourselves with too many mini projects.
^Downtown, Springfield, and San Marco are all within a mile or two from Riverside. I don't think that qualifies as over-extending. What we need is more integration between all of them; that's were we'll see the real difference.
I agree in part and disagree in part.
I agree that Springfield, Downtown, and San Marco are geographically close to Riverside.
I disagree with the idea that we can talk about them as one integrated "section" of town and I don't believe the only thing lacking to that integration is transportation. Even with adequate transportation, can we honestly say there's a huge demographic of people who want to hang out downtown? When we had trolley cars, yes, but now? I want to see trolley cars return as bad as I want to win the lottery and pay of my student loans and to see the Jags win the Super Bowl this year and yada yada yada. At what point does our longing for the past border on delusions of grandeur?
Furthermore, w/ regards to Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans--what makes them so great isn't necessarily geographic closeness. What makes them great is walkability. San Marco is extremely close to Riverside...but who would want to walk that? Ditto Downtown to Riverside. I've walked it--and it was terrible. No intentions of walking over the bridge, either.
QuoteThe interior featured a huge octagonal glass dome supported by eight colossal statues to flood the interior with natural light.
Does anyone know if any pictures exist of this? Would love to see those.
Quote from: finehoe on November 21, 2011, 01:25:09 PM
QuoteThe interior featured a huge octagonal glass dome supported by eight colossal statues to flood the interior with natural light.
Does anyone know if any pictures exist of this? Would love to see those.
There's some nice ones in "The Architecture of Henry John Klutho" by Bob Broward. It's avaialble in the libraries and at the Historical Society store. I'll scan and post if I have a chance this week.
The dome and statues inside City Hall now are an attempt to recreate the appearance of the original dome, but of course the configuration is different and the dome/statues look more cheaply made than the originals.
Quote from: Wacca Pilatka on November 21, 2011, 01:31:54 PM
I'll scan and post if I have a chance this week.
That would be awesome! Thanks!
QuoteFurthermore, w/ regards to Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans--what makes them so great isn't necessarily geographic closeness. What makes them great is walkability. San Marco is extremely close to Riverside...but who would want to walk that? Ditto Downtown to Riverside. I've walked it--and it was terrible. No intentions of walking over the bridge, either.
This is where mass transit plays a huge role. It extends walkability by immediately connecting isolated pedestrian friendly nodes together and it serves as a catalyst for transit oriented development that eventually fills in the gaps with pedestrian scale development. Instead of a downtown being isolated, it becomes a subdistrict of a larger urban core.
Instead of waiting a decade for new residential development in the heart of downtown, you can live in a New Springfield now and immediately have access without a car to Five Points, Downtown and San Marco Square. For its costs and its impact on urban development, from a public sector standpoint, its probably the most sure fire way to kick an urban revitalization process into high gear.
The link below has several pictures of the exterior and interior of former May-Cohens/St. James building, including the octagon dome and supporting statues (near the bottom of the page). http://www.prairieschooltraveler.com/html/fl/stjames/St.James.html
^Stupid me. I forgot to go to that website while putting the article together. Yes, that's a pretty cool site that has images of just about every Prairie School structure in Jax (possibly excluding the Northside though).
(http://www.prairieschooltraveler.com/html/fl/stjames/St.James034.jpg)
^compared to today:
(http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles6967.jpg)
There was at one time a very large chandelier, that hung in the middle of the skylight, if I am not mistaken.
There is a picture of the chandelier in the Klutho book mentioned upthread, as well as the dome picture that Lake posted. Also a close-up comparison of the statues then and now.
As you can see in the dome picture Lake posted, there was also a Star of David motif to the railings.
^Are the statues there now new, or did they just move the old ones up?
Quote from: Tacachale on November 21, 2011, 02:30:01 PM
^Are the statues there now new, or did they just move the old ones up?
They are new. Recreations of the originals, but more cheaply done.
One thing I really appreciate about City Hall is the effort to incorporate some of the original features from Klutho's vision, even if they could not be exactly or exquisitely replicated. Not only the dome and statues but the suspended glass canopy with globe lights over the main entrance.
^I agree with you 100% on that. It's a marvelous building and they did great work with it.
^ I am just glad the building was spared, and did not join the Robert Meyer, Woolworths , Penney's, Sears and The many hotels that once graced the downtown , and end up in a landfill. Today it still is a truly beautiful building.
It would be a mistake to write off downtown Jacksonville. Like Ben Says, I can get pretty downcast when I reflect on how much has been lost, and how much damage has been done by poor planning, policies, etc. But I lean more in the direction expressed by the Lakelander. Even with all that's been lost, there is immense possibility in what's left, if only the city can stop bulldozing, deleting the past, and trying to come up with the next "big thing." Quit trying to make Jacksonville someplace that it's not. It is not Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami, etc...nor should it try to be. It is a perfectly good city on its own merits, and has assets most cities would kill for (start with the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean and take it from there). It is not living in the past to want to preserve the historic buildings that are left, and nurture some life back into what was once a great downtown.
+1
Even the new elevators have brass bars on the back that reflect the folding doors on the old elevators. There's some good design going on in there.
I scanned several pictures of the inside of Cohen's from the Klutho book last night, but couldn't figure out how to upload them to MJ...if anyone would like me to e-mail them, please send me a message.
Quote from: fsujax on November 21, 2011, 02:28:16 PM
There was at one time a very large chandelier, that hung in the middle of the skylight, if I am not mistaken.
Take a second look. The chandelier is in the picture above you. Looking from that angel, it looks really small. LOL
no, the one I am talking about was pretty huge. I believe it was one the largest, electric ones at the time.
Quote from: fsujax on November 23, 2011, 11:23:39 AM
no, the one I am talking about was pretty huge. I believe it was one the largest, electric ones at the time.
Duvaldude, I have a picture in the Klutho book of the chandelier FSUJax is talking about. It was eight-sided and enormous, I think one of the largest in the world (the dept. store was the 9th largest in the country when it opened, incidentally). It must have predated the little one that's in the picture of the dome upthread.
Quote from: Wacca Pilatka on November 23, 2011, 11:36:30 AM
Quote from: fsujax on November 23, 2011, 11:23:39 AM
no, the one I am talking about was pretty huge. I believe it was one the largest, electric ones at the time.
Duvaldude, I have a picture in the Klutho book of the chandelier FSUJax is talking about. It was eight-sided and enormous, I think one of the largest in the world (the dept. store was the 9th largest in the country when it opened, incidentally). It must have predated the little one that's in the picture of the dome upthread.
Oh okay. I would like to see that.!
^ I scanned it last night, but couldn't figure out how to upload it on here. If you'd like I'd be glad to e-mail it to you.
Too bad it is not around any longer. I bet it would look awesome there today . :)
May-Cohens had the best mens department of any department store. They always had what I was looking for, and the staff was always helpful without being pushy. No wonder they were in business for so long.
Back in the day M-C was considered expensive, but I found out with clothes you really do get what you pay for.
Thanx for everything, May-Cohens. You left us way too soon.
My mother worked at the Cohen's Brothers store in Downtown Jacksonville in the 1950's. She talked about how much she loved shopping downtown and living so close to downtown in those days. On a different note, I believe this article is incorrect about the demise of WMBR in 1958. I remember my mom listening to WMBR and WAPE on the AM dial in the 1960's and even the 1970's. I believe that WMBR was AM 1460 and then AM 600. (WAPE was AM 690 at the time). WMBR did go away, but I think it was much later than 1958, possibly the late 1970's. If memory serves me correct, the WMBR call-letters actually started out in Tampa and they are now used on a radio station at M.I.T. in Massachusetts.