Ruins of Jacksonville: The Florida Life Building

[Metro Jacksonville]

Ruins of Jacksonville: The Florida Life Building



It has been called Jacksonville's purest statement of a "skyscraper" and was one of Jacksonville's earliest 'green' buildings. Today, many feel this neglected architectural masterpiece may be better off tumbling to the ground.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-sep-ruins-of-jacksonville-the-florida-life-building

[riverside planner]

The state of these buildings is tragic and speaks volumes about our leadership's lack of commitment to Jacksonville's architectural history.

[heights unknown]

A gem of a building.  It's a shame our City has let it go the way of housing Bird Nests instead of businesses and companies.  Hopefully someone will puchase this building, along with the trio, and the heart of our core will beat right once again.

Heights Unknown

[jaxlore]

that sucks they are great looking buildings

[DavidWilliams]

When was the building last occupied (didn't see it in the article)? Looks to have been empty many years.

[Lunican]

Standing near this building might be a bad idea...

http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/gallery/9623339_Erq4V#648531740_Wp4YZ-A-LB

[mtraininjax]

In light of the cities woes with buildings, I would look elsewhere for a buyer.

[lindab]

Who owns this building and the other ones? The sign says Addison but that is just the agent, right?
My second time saying this: The city historic preservation department needs a marketing division. It would save these fine buildings and bring revenue back into a needed area of town.

[ralpho37]

This could be a beautiful building if it were renovated.

[RM]

Love the diamond copper pattern in the cornice.  Thanks for being the fill in on the memory gap there Mr. Dare.  What authority did Corim Company have at that time,  if their findings were disputable?

[blizz01]

That's probably laughable to the Swiss or most of Western Europe for that matter when considering that our "historical" structures mostly fall within the last 2-3 centuries & that wasn't even at the 100 year mark at the time.

[Bike Jax]

In a city that really cared about saving it's historic structures whiles also revitalizing it's urban core. The city could reach inside it's preverbal trousers to see if it still has a pair and use it's emanate domain powers to save these building.

Simply give the current owners building a limited time frame to bring the buildings up to a usable/inhabitable condition or the city will take ownership. Should (and when) the city takes ownership of any of the buildings. They should then give (yes I said give) them to pre-qualified persons/corporations that can follow thru to restoring these buildings. The city will get so much more out these types of dealing than they would ever get by sitting on their ass and watching these building crumble.

[Lunican]

I can't help but think about what happened to the Rhodes Furniture building a few blocks away.

[thelakelander]

For a few months it was Florida's tallest.
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2008-mar-a-century-of-floridas-tallest-skyscrapers

[Wacca Pilatka]

This is my favorite building in the world.  Not much depresses me more than not being able to save it.

Stephen, I'm fascinated to learn this information about Corim because Bob Broward's Klutho book put the blame for the cornice destruction squarely on Bank of America.  Was BoA actually involved to any meaningful degree?