Annie Lytle demolition back on track?

[Metro Jacksonville]

Annie Lytle demolition back on track?



If developers Doug Milne and Carlton Jones have their way with Council's LUZ committee today, Jacksonville could lose yet another significant historic building.


Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-jun-annie-lytle-demolition-back-on-track

[lindab]

Good article and should be  a wake up call.

Why does Jacksonville have this failure of imagination regarding old structures?

I would like to propose that what our Historic Commission, a quasi-regulatory commission, needs is a good Marketing division. The Historic Commissoners do have the vision and the understanding needed to preserve vistas like the one of Adams Street in your article. What they don't have is a way to help these structures be marketed to buyers who will honor the past and fit it to a future use.

The city markets other resources. Preserved history should receive the same consideration.

[nestliving]

Bass St Lofts in Atlanta and Love Joy lofts in Washington DC we both old school houses similar that were turned into beautiful lofts. This building is perfect for a similar situation.

[vicupstate]

What, if anything, does the developer plan with the site if it is cleared?

It should be saved, but this is Jacksonville, so I'm not too hopeful. 

[5PointsGuy]

Unfortunately its a bad location due to its proximity to I-95. As much as I think as it should be kept, I don't know how much interest there would be in restoring the building and turning it in to something with 95 there...

[civil42806]

I'm sympathetic, but how long has this structure been vacant?  20- 30 -40 years?  Has anyone expressed interest in the existing structure.  Its a horrendous location, if someone just plans on demolishing it and leaving yet another vacant lot then I'm opposed to it, but if someone actually plans on utilizing the lot to build something usable, so be it.

[thelakelander]

I don't think it gets any closer than this:

This is the Richmond, VA train station and I-95.  Despite the expressway proximity this building is still a contributing factor to Richmond's urban core.  In Florida, I imagine this place would have been taken down when the expressway was constructed.





http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=799518&page=3

[Wacca Pilatka]

Great analogy on Main St. Station in Richmond.  It's a passenger train station that shut down in the 70s sometime, and after a failed attempt to convert it to an outlet mall, is once again an operating Amtrak station.

[thelakelander]

I'm sympathetic, but how long has this structure been vacant?  20- 30 -40 years?  Has anyone expressed interest in the existing structure.  Its a horrendous location, if someone just plans on demolishing it and leaving yet another vacant lot then I'm opposed to it, but if someone actually plans on utilizing the lot to build something usable, so be it.

Tampa's Floridian Hotel had been vacant and abandoned since 1987.  Now it is being renovated back into a boutique hotel.



Where there is a will, there's a way.  However, this site does have some significant challenges to over come.  My hope is that if the building can't be saved, at least the front facade is preserved, incorporated into a new structure and reconnected with Riverside Park.

[vicupstate]

There is a former elementary school in Washington DC that is of the same era.  It also is right next to a major expressway.  It might be a full 5-10 feet further from the higheway, but that's about it. 

It has been converted into a health club and it is cool as hell.  Being right next to a highway is not an issue at all for that use.  In fact an advertising banner provides lots of cheap exposure to tens of thousands of commuters every day.

Get it together jacksonville, before it's too late.

[vicupstate]

This 1920's hotel in DT Greenville was vacant for about 12 years before being converted into a Westin. 

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1255

[JeffreyS]

Wow they must have some really good use they want to put to use on the site to consider this.  Of course in Jax really good use amounts to the chance to play with a wrecking ball.

[Karl_Pilkington]

why is there even a Historical Preservation Commission?  they don't do anything, are they just window dressing?

If Miami Beach had our historic preservation vision there wouldn't be any art deco district or lincoln road mall.  I lived there when Miami Beach was old and rundown, lincoln road mall was mostly vagrants.  There were plenty of developers who wanted nothing more than to just take a wrecking ball to the whole thing and start over, but the historic preservationists and the PEOPLE held firm and now they really have something to be proud of.

[Deuce]

As much as I think as it should be kept, I don't know how much interest there would be in restoring the building and turning it in to something with 95 there...

I tend to agree with this statement. The number of uses are limited for this building. The train station in Richmond works because of it's use and the size of the structure. A gym like the example in DC given would work well but there's no real need for another gym nearby. Maybe a Museum?

The Westin hotel in Greenville is awesome. They did a really great job of preserving historical elements. They've got some great restaurants too. I think is was abandoned for a lot longer than 12 years though. I don't remember anything ever being in that building.

[Ocklawaha]

This place was a wreck, I remember the City Council hearings to tear it down, the citizens nearly threatened to carry them out on a rail. The old Gal was saved, Hilton got involved and today she is the queen of the prairie states.

The Skirvin Hotel built in 1910 by oilman W.B. Skirvin, who was determined to have the finest hotel in the Southwest. Opening its doors in 1911, the plush hotel had two, 10-story towers containing 224 rooms, was one of the first buildings in Oklahoma City to have air conditioning, then called “iced air,” had running ice water in each room, a ballroom that seated 500, and imported Austrian chandeliers that cost more than $100,000 each.

Skirvin’s daughter, Perl Mesta, brought the hotel a national reputation by being the ambassadress to Luxembourg, and then Washington’s "Hostess with the Mostess," portrayed in the famed Broadway musical, "Call Me Madam."

In 1930, a third wing was added, raising the structure to 14 stories and increasing capacity to 525 rooms.

The Oklahoma showplace became a popular speak-easy during prohibition. It was during this time that W.B. Skirvin was said to have had an affair with one of the hotel maids. According to legend, the maid soon conceived and in order to prevent a scandal, she was locked in a room on the top floor of the hotel.  The desolate girl soon grew depressed and even after the birth of her child; she was still not let out of the room. Half out of her mind, she finally grabbed the infant child and threw herself, along with the baby, out of the window.

The maid’s name remains unknown, but her ghost continues to haunt the Skirvin Hotel and she was nicknamed “Effie” by former employees.

Though the old hotel closed in 1988, former guests would often report not being able to obtain a decent nights sleep due to the consistent sounds of a child crying.

Effie was apparently a woman of loose morals and many men who have stayed in the hotel have often reported being propositioned by a female voice while alone in their rooms.  Others have seen the figure of a naked woman with them while taking a shower. One man even claimed he was sexually assaulted by an invisible entity during his stay.

Other strange noises and occurrences were reported by staff and guests including things seemingly being moved around by themselves, such as the maid’s cart being pushed down the hall when no one was there.
 
In October, 1979 the hotel was listed on National Register of Historic Places. When it closed in 1988 the building stood empty for more almost fifteen years. However, the historic hotel has now been fully restored and now open once again for guests.
The $46.4 million project included the original exterior finish, installation of historically accurate windows, reconfigured guest rooms, new guest elevators, an elegant lobby, restaurants, and state-of-the-art meeting rooms. Wherever possible, historical elements such as moldings, tiles and ceiling treatments were incorporated into the design.

It will be interesting to see if Effie appears to new guest of the hotel.

The Skirvin Hotel is located at 1 Park Avenue in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.



FIRST came vision


NEXT came salvation






VISION PEOPLE! VISION! SKYWAY, TOD, THEATER, STORES, FOOD, FUN, STREETCAR, BUS... VISION Damn Jax! VISION!

OCKLAWAHA