Does anyone know what's happening with the Ambassador Hotel on Church and Julia?
For the last few months a demolition crew has slowly been stripping away metal parts (all fire escapes are gone). Today they showed up with a cherry picker and now are stripping the bricks away starting with the chimney.
Can you dare say surface parking lot?!?
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Has there been a demolition permit issued?
The Ambassador is on the list of designated Local Landmarks.
The Houston Street bordellos were listed on the National Register and they still came down. Hopefully, they aren't in the process of demolishing it, but based on how things have been done here in the past, I wouldn't be suprised.
QuoteCan you dare say surface parking lot?!?
By the way, how does the KBJ (First Christian Church site) lot look these days?
QuoteBy the way, how does the KBJ (First Christian Church site) lot look these days?
You must be talking about this curious, (looking heavily medicated) patch of green? Surprisingly, not a parking lot (yet)!
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Yes, the grass is radioactive green. It's very strange.
Actually, I think it looks better as grass than before. The grass lot allows you to view the much older mansion while traveling northbound on Julia Street and also to view it more in the context of its day. It is much better than having it blocked by a quasi-historic church IMO. Now, I would hate to see a parking lot go in there but as it stands now it looks like a nice side lawn for the old house. I just think the old mansion is far more attractive now than the poorly executed 1950s church ever was.
The house looks out of context to me. In its day it sat on a block full of houses. At least the old church continued to give the block an urban feel, when traveling north on Julia. Now its an isolated house lost in a sea of asphalt and grass. They could move it to Mandarin and no one would notice.
Any update on the Ambassador?
Somebody say "Weird Grass?" hee hee
I think I've got it.
1. Either it's a special variety of Winter Rye, which has a softer look and feel but likes cold weather, and will die in the first warm snap.
or
2. They planted regular sod, and had it sprayed with a pre-emergent weed-and-feed which often comes with strange green dye in it. This was done so our distant Yankee cousins could have a sort of green yard all winter. Then when the warm weather comes, the chemical fades away and the grass LEAPS into action without the weeds. I used to have this done on my Oklahoma acres every Fall. Beats the hell out of spending Summer pulling Johnson or Crab grass.
I was just by the old hotel yesterday, and didn't dawn on me we could be losing another historic building, DAMN, I even had the 35 mm, laying in the seat next to me. Shall I go talk to them?
Ocklawaha
Call the Historic Preservation office (Joel McEachin), and also see if any sort of permit has been issued.
I contact Joel. He is "not aware of any plans, including demolition which would require Commission review, for the Ambassador Hotel"
Just noticed a "For Sale" sign on the Ambassador Hotel this morning. I guess the removal of the fire escapes and ladders was done to keep the homeless out and removal of the chimney to keep the pigeons out?
Wow, that baby is ready to go! Watch it get snatched up and turned into middle income residences!
Buahahaha! :-\
Quote from: thelakelander on January 17, 2008, 12:50:47 AM
The house looks out of context to me. In its day it sat on a block full of houses. At least the old church continued to give the block an urban feel, when traveling north on Julia. Now its an isolated house lost in a sea of asphalt and grass. They could move it to Mandarin and no one would notice.
Well, the house was there first. Of course, with the more recent surrounding development it looks a little off but it is still a far more beautiful structure than the demolished church. I guess I am siding more with historic preservation in this instance than with urban development but I just think the mansion is great and should be kept in its original context (at least within its block). It would make a great museum one day too.
The context, in an urban sense, is just as important (more, imo) as the individual architectural parts.
The church was historic (over 50 years old), as well and at least gave the block a sense of scale. But if we want to take it back to its "Turn of the Century" environment, the proper context would be a compact block filled with similar styled houses. At no point, from a historic preservation standpoint, would the house be in its original context sitting on a block of filled with asphalt parking and grass.
(http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/postcard/pc1429.jpg)
(http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/postcard/pc1427.jpg)
I think seeing these historic structures (both grand and plain) in their natural urban setting is what makes neighborhoods like Riverside and Springfield so desired and gives them their sense of place. Unfortunately, its the exact thing missing from the Porter house.
Nice pictures but the problem is that the church did not do anything to provide context either. I do not favor the parking lot either but the grass lot is a lot less obnoxious to me than a decaying deconsecrated church with average architecture. I wish all the houses in those postcards had been saved together to provide proper context but it was not to be apparently. The current setting is the next best thing to showcase the surviving mansion which is really one of a kind downtown IMO.
BTW, the best news is that the Ambassador is not in danger of demolition and is for sale. Hopefully someone who cares about the urban core and adaptive reuse (i.e. not Hionides) will buy it and make it a hotel or apartments again.
If the goal is to make the building stand out, in what is supposed to be a dense area, I guess so.
The average church could have been something great that helped the atmosphere of that entire block with a little tender love and care. The buildings that house the London Bridge and Chew are both simple plain jane structures that enhance the scene surrounding the more elaborate buildings next door or across the street.
Imo (I know you feel the same way), we need more little plain churches like that and less neglectful land owners who believe preservation is only about saving the most elaborate buildings at the expense of others that help create the urban environment.
QuoteThe current setting is the next best thing to showcase the surviving mansion which is really one of a kind downtown IMO.
Though not as large, there's another isolated one in LaVilla on Forsyth near Jefferson. There's also a few left in the Cathedral District.