by TRC_Admin | Dec 1, 2020 | Historic, Placemaking
Photo: Scenic Jacksonville Facebook
“There is so much to be thankful for in Jacksonville.
What comes to mind immediately includes beautiful natural resources and an incredible history.
The natural resources are dominated by water.
The majestic St. Johns River widens into an estuary as it nears the Atlantic Ocean.
The Intracoastal Waterway has its own unique ecology that you can appreciate from water level. Crossing a bridge at twilight, the setting sun acts like a spotlight, turning the marshes into a soft palette of colors.
The tributaries of the river criss-cross the city. Two of the most prominent near Downtown, Hogans Creek and McCoys Creek, are being rediscovered with an aggressive nonprofit, Groundwork Jacksonville, leading the way…
Look at a map of Duval’s major parks and many of them are located around the outer edges of the county. That is about to change, however. Once the Emerald Trail is completed, there will be 30 miles of urban pathways around Downtown that are linked to the riverwalk. And once the pedestrian walkway is completed alongside the Fuller Warren Bridge, the riverwalks will have a sky-high connection.
Meanwhile, there are plans to expand access along the St. Johns River Downtown. There is much empty space along the Northbank. Plans for a series of riverfront parks are being advanced by Riverfront Parks Now, a group of influential advocates. Public access that began with the Southbank Riverwalk in the 1980s is now coming to fruition.
On the Southbank, plans for a massive mixed-use development at the site of the former Southside Generating Station will include an extension of the riverwalk that wraps around the back of the riverfront development.
Jacksonville’s incredible history
The Times-Union Editorial page has been campaigning for a better appreciation of Jacksonville history, especially the history of our Black native sons and daughters…
The stories are fascinating.
Jacksonville — a city of natural beauty and beautiful people”
— Florida Times-Union Editorial Board
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More news about this project and MOSH relocation
Read Scenic Jacksonville on proposed Metropolitan Park
by TRC_Admin | Oct 28, 2020 | Historic
Photo: AP
“A historic hotel and boarding house had to be parked overnight on a South Florida street during a move because of delays with its relocation.
Traffic had to be blocked off overnight Sunday on a street in West Palm Beach, and some light posts were temporarily removed to accommodate the relocation of the almost-century-old The Edgewater.
The 4,900-square-foot hotel was moved about 1.5 miles to a historic district of West Palm Beach after a new owner of the property decided its former location would be the site of a new parking [lot].
The Edgewater will be used as a bed-and-breakfast inn in its new location.
— Triblive.com, Associated Press
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by TRC_Admin | Sep 30, 2020 | Historic
Photo: Luis Santana, Tampa Bay Times
“It’s said that legendary singer Ella Fitzgerald wrote her 1938 hit ‘A-Tisket, A-Tasket’ in a ramshackle rooming house in downtown Tampa. She and other stars of the day were turned away from hotels.
‘Because of Jim Crow and discrimination they were unable to stay,’ explained Carolyn Collins, chairperson of the Jackson House Foundation. She’s told the story of the house for years, even as it crumbled into disrepair.
‘And I think that’s why I knew this house would never fall,’ she said. ‘There were too many legends holding it up.’ But now the legends are getting help from construction workers. They were hired with a million-dollar donation from Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik.
‘Mr. Vinik made others see a vision that perhaps they couldn’t see clearly and so he has made this vision a reality,’ she shared.
But to see the future of a house more than a hundred years old, special technology is being used. A team from USF is using 3D laser scanning.
‘With our short-range scanning we’re able to get half of a human hair of accuracy,’ explained Lori Collins of the USF Digital Heritage and Humanities Collection. ‘So we can create really exact modeling of the railings and mantelpieces where parts are missing.’
The house is a relic that bent but didn’t break.
‘This house has always been a solid rock for many people and we’re on a path to making that again,’ said Carolyn Collins.
It’s going to be a museum with rooms full of stories of stars like Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, and thousands of other travelers of color. They were shut out by segregation but found open doors in this house that won’t fall down…”
— Charlie Frago, Tampa Bay Times
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by TRC_Admin | Sep 30, 2020 | Advertising Industry, City Signs, Historic, Placemaking
Photo: Robert Whitehead
“Building signs have grown into a $37.5 billion industry. Some have become so iconic they are peranent parts of the landscape, often standing in for their hometown.
Some signs have become so iconic, they are permanent parts of the landscape — and sometimes stand in for the cities in which they are found…
The boldness of Miami
Nothing captures the vibe of this Florida city like the pastel-colored Art Deco hotels and glowing neon signs along Ocean Drive on Miami Beach — all part of a historic district. Erected in 1935, the three-story Colony Hotel was one of the first of the properties to make its mark. Henry Hohauser designed the structure, in the streamlined style of the day, as well as its inverted-T sign. His boxy marquee allowed the name to be seen from both sides and the beach… Materials used in construction during the Depression weren’t of the highest quality, however, and by 1989 the marquee had to be rebuilt. Recently, the neon letters were painstakingly removed again before a new marquee made of galvanized steel was installed and the letters put back on.
The quirkiness of Los Angeles
The sign above Randy’s Donuts in Los Angeles can be seen by those flying in and out of Los Angeles International Airport.
The sprawling Southern California city is home to a number of “programmatic” signs — ones shaped like the products their businesses sell, designed to flag down passing motorists. The dimpled pastry atop Randy’s Donuts in the Inglewood neighborhood is by far the best known of the bunch.
Thirty-two feet in diameter, the doughnut can be spotted from the air by those flying in and out of Los Angeles International Airport. And if people haven’t laid eyes on it in person, they have likely seen it in movies, music videos and promotions.
The sophistication of Chicago
The Gothic-style letters of the Drake Hotel’s famous sign stand nearly 12 feet tall and have been perched on the roof of the landmark building in downtown Chicago since 1940.”
— Jane Margolies, New York Times
Great photos and more about additional cities and their iconic signs
by TRC_Admin | Jun 29, 2020 | Historic, Placemaking
Photo: Pioneer Florida Museum and Village, Douglas R. Clifford
“[The log cabin] was built by hand with local trees from when logging was the primary industry in Dade City.
The Pioneer Florida Museum & Village likes to collect old things, from tiny handheld folding fans to a two-story, 156-year-old house built by one of Pasco County’s first settlers.
It is all located on the 16-acre wooded Dade City campus that teaches Florida’s pioneer history.
A dental office exhibit in the main museum educates visitors on early medical practices, and Lacoochee’s former one-room schoolhouse provides a glimpse into the educational system of the 1930s.
Last month, the museum welcomed an addition: a donated L-shaped log cabin built in the Pasco wilderness more than 100 years ago…
The log cabin, currently in two pieces awaiting connection, illustrates how handmade pioneer homes lasted despite barely using nails, adhesives and other items found in modern construction.
‘I have never seen a better example of Florida Cracker-style architecture,’ said Steve Melton, the museum volunteer who led the effort to move the cabin to the campus. ‘As the saying goes, They don’t make ‘em like they used to.’…
It’s like the Lincoln Logs that kids use to build miniature cabins, ‘but the real thing that was built to stand for over 100 years,’ Melton said…
Melton said he so fell in love with the cabin that he was inspired to write a poem about it.
The final refrain reads, ‘If only this log home could talk. Stories on the front porch, underneath her shade. This ol’ girl has a new home and life. Think of the memories that will be made.'”
— Paul Guzzo, Tampa Bay Times
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by TRC_Admin | Feb 3, 2020 | Historic
Photo: Michele Miller, Times
“Two of Hernando County’s historical treasures will get a new lease on life thanks to agreements signed Tuesday by the County Commission.
Chinsegut Hill, which has struggled for years to develop a sustainable business plan, and the Little Rock Cannery, which over lean budget years has been the poster child for county services to cut, each will have new outside management.
Two organizations stepped forward to help Chinsegut, one to run the historical manor house and the other to manage the cabins and conference center. Hernando County is the tenant of Chinsegut Hill, which as a historical site is subject to the rules of the National Historical Preservation Act and the National Register of Historic Places program.
County officials negotiated terms with the Tampa Bay History Center to run the manor house and with Mid Florida Community Services to run the cabins and conference center. Each is a nonprofit, and each will have a license agreement to operate its assigned portion of the property for $150 annually, paid to the general fund…
In the second of the day’s announcements, the Hernando Growers Association will take over operation of the Little Rock Cannery, which closed more than a year ago. Several organizations over the years have pitched plans to run the historic facility but without any long-term success.
The Grower’s Association also is a nonprofit and hopes to expand the cannery’s programs, provide educational classes and resume the traditional canning classes and operations with a more rigorous schedule, according to Growers Association president Michael DeFelice.
The Little Rock Cannery is a self-serve facility for Hernando County residents to prepare and preserve fruits, vegetables, seafood and meats.
County commissioners expressed support for the community partners stepping up to help Chinsegut and the Cannery, noting they are established organizations with the ability to make the facilities sustainable.
As for making the hard-to-find cannery more visible at the busy intersection of Citrus Way and U.S. 98, Allocco suggested that state officials planning to build a roundabout at that site place a huge canning jar in the middle. ”
— Barbara Behrendt,Times
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