10 of Jax's Most Endangered Historic Places

[Metro Jacksonville]

10 of Jax's Most Endangered Historic Places





Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-dec-10-of-jaxs-most-endangered-historic-places

[Adam White]

Interesting article, thanks.

I like them all, but I think I love the Ford plant the most. That could be something really, really cool. Even if it were just apartments or studios, it could be the sort of thing you see in design magazines.

[jaxlore]

Yep good to see these highlighted. Some great buildings out there. We need creative folks with a little bit of vision to re-energize these spaces. We don't need anymore strip mall developments (IE Whole Foods in Brooklyn)

[E_Dubya]

Wasn't the Marriott looking to work on the Laura Street Trio at some point? I heard murmurs of that not long ago, but I'm not sure as to their truth.

[coredumped]

Good article! Sadly so man buildings need help it's really frustrating to see money being poured in to things like the "nocatee town center" while these are crumbling.

Just curious - why didn't the Barnett building make the list? Is it in good shape compared to these?

[coredumped]

Wasn't the Marriott looking to work on the Laura Street Trio at some point? I heard murmurs of that not long ago, but I'm not sure as to their truth.

Yep, there was a discussion here:
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,23307.0.html

And the TU said they're opening late next year!!!
http://jacksonville.com/business/2014-12-15/story/courtyard-marriott-expected-open-late-2016-downtowns-laura-street-trio

[E_Dubya]

Thanks, Core. I'm glad that I'm not delusional. I sincerely hope that it's a viable restoration. I'm also eager to hear about the "major" Barnett Bank tenant that the article references at the end.

[thelakelander]

I'd take the TU article with a grain of salt. Nobody is opening until a deal that includes the city giving millions is ironed out. When...if....such a deal happens is anyone's guess at this point.

[thelakelander]

Just curious - why didn't the Barnett building make the list? Is it in good shape compared to these?

The Barnett is in much better shape than the Florida Life and Bisbee Buildings. the Barnett also has larger floor plates. It's a big vacant building but more in the line with the Old JEA Building and City Hall Annex than crumbling structures like the Annie Lytle and Ford plant. With that said, I can see the City Hall Annex building being demolished before the Barnett. The city owns it and many rather see a vacant lot, in hopes of new development, as opposed to a vacant building on the waterfront.

[mtraininjax]

A lot of these downtown buildings will change when downtown becomes more of a destination. The new Amphitheater and Healthy Town and Sleiman's boondoggle, once rolling will shed more of an eye on downtown, just as the areas of Riverside and Avondale have seen growth and improvements, so too will downtown, they just need a few projects to get the ball rolling.

[Ocklawaha]

Fire Station 5 needs an activist. The National Guard's 779Th Engineering Battalion is based in TALLAHASSEE and the Navy's heavy construction corps 'The Seabee's' at NAS JAX. In both cases they have been involved in moving buildings, building bridges, roads, etc. for state or community projects in the past as it can sometimes be worked into their training schedules. A local City Council person and Congressman could take this over the top.

For example:

A Ghost Railroad. Colorado, with its history of rich mining operations, left the state with not only quaint ghost towns, but also some historic ghost railroads. After an adventurous and authentic restoration, the Georgetown Loop Railroad has been transformed into a passenger tourist railroad.

Georgetown is a Victorian town in Colorado's Clear Creek Canyon where high surrounding mountains display old silver mine tailings.

Originally conceived to carry silver ore in 1865, it began as the Colorado & Clear Creek Railroad. Its tracks would eventually extend some 60 miles to Denver.

A mere two miles from Georgetown's Devils Gate Station, but 650 feet lower in altitude, is the Silver Plume Station. Between the two lies the present-day restored remnant of the old rail system.

Originally, surveyors concluded that laying straight track to connect these two stations would require an impractical 6.5% grade. The corkscrew route which they eventually hammered out was 4.5 miles long, and averaged a steep (but manageable) 3.5% grade.

The price of silver plummeted in the Panic of 1893, and mining slowed. Passenger revenue kept the line operating, as it became a popular scenic route. Ownership was transferred to the Colorado and Southern Railway until 1938 when the route was abandoned and the tracks pulled up.

The Saga of the Restoration—

Thirty-some years later, what is now called The Georgetown Loop Railroad was rescued by the Colorado Historical Society. Their first bold step was to persuade the state's Department of Transportation not to build Interstate Highway I-70 over the old railroad grade. The Interstate was then rerouted along the base of Republican Mountain.

Remember the old story of the man who started to make "stone soup" with just a kettle of boiling water and a rock? His neighbors then contributed carrots, potatoes, and meat. In a similar way, this project started to bubble once serious plans were in place. Sources of help came from everywhere, including, of all places, the U.S. Navy.

The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad chipped in with five narrow-gauge passenger cars. The Loveland Ski Associates, who by that time were owners of the Silver Plume Depot, donated it. Other equipment came, by barge and flatcars, from Alaska's Yukon and White Pass Railroad.
   
A construction crew serendipitously arrived from a very unlikely source—again, the U.S. Navy to the rescue. Its Reserve Mobile Construction Battalion (Seabees) just happened to be planning a training exercise—to build a railroad. The Historical Society was happy to provide them with the opportunity and the location.

http://www.highonadventure.com/hoa10aug/sylvia/georgetownrr.htm

Moving a building across the street? Piece of cake. Nuff Said!

[acme54321]

The alterations to the Chamber building are atrocious.

[Tacachale]

Of all these I think I'm the most disappointed by Park Street in Brooklyn. That had the ability to turn into something really cool with all the new development nearby. But now the buildings are coming down as soon as the developers get a hold of the lot. Lame.

[mtraininjax]

Of all these I think I'm the most disappointed by Park Street in Brooklyn. That had the ability to turn into something really cool with all the new development nearby. But now the buildings are coming down as soon as the developers get a hold of the lot. Lame.

None of those dumpy old buildings fit in with what is going on with Riverside. None of them. Why keep them? Why try and put lipstick on a pig? Brooklyn is NOT looking backward, its moving FORWARD. Forget the old dumpy buildings, there are plenty still remaining in Durkeeville and Robinson's Addition, plenty to go hug and keep in neighborhoods that continue to go backward.

Move forward!

[coredumped]

None of those dumpy old buildings fit in with what is going on with Riverside. None of them. Why keep them? Why try and put lipstick on a pig? Brooklyn is NOT looking backward, its moving FORWARD. Forget the old dumpy buildings, there are plenty still remaining in Durkeeville and Robinson's Addition, plenty to go hug and keep in neighborhoods that continue to go backward.

Move forward!

Agreed! Let's plow down the Trio and make it a walmart!