Visual Ephemera's Most Threatened Sites for 2012

The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation is publishing their call for the 11 most threatened historical places in Florida, so I thought I'd come with my own. Introducing the Visual Ephemera Top 12 Threatened Places in Florida. To qualify it has to be a subject I've blogged about, or at least closely related. Drum roll please....

12. McNamera Pontiac Sign(s), Orlando

I've blogged about vintage stuff in my town before and this is one of our best neon signs. There is also a great service sign around the corner. This dealership has been vacant for quite some time now and I see these signs ending up in someone's collection...

11. Firestone in St. Augustine

Every time we return to see the nation's oldest city, I am surprised to see this mid-century dealership still hanging in there, as it is prime real estate. It would be fun to see it re-purposed into something cool, but that seems unlikely.

10. Wreck Bar

A certain mermaid has been working hard to keep the Wreck Bar relevant while the Sheraton chain considers remodeling. One of the few porthole bars left in this country, it would be a shame to lose.

9. Tomoka State Park sculpture

Created by renown artist Frederick Dana Marsh, this monumental sculpture needs some loving in a big way. With our underfunded State Parks as caretakers, I don't see it happening soon.

8. Orange City Historic District

Historic District advocate Dallas Wittgenfeld says "most historically significant houses in Orange City are going to be demolished soon and right across the street from our historic founding hotel. Very sad."



7. The Marion S. Whaley Citrus Packing House, Rockledge

Despite being on the National Register of Historic Places, this future looks grim for this complex on US 1.



6. Bob White Citrus Packing Plant, De Leon Springs

What does one do with an old citrus processing facility? This complex of buildings on US 17 continues to deteriorate.

5. Glen Springs pool, Gainesville

Three Elks club members are doing all that they can, but without some help, the pool will eventually start to cave in.



4. Lake Worth Shuffleboard Courts

See previous post. The meeting to determine the future of the courts is later this month.

3. North Florida lakes

Drought+overuse of the aquifer=dry lakes. Livelihoods are being destroyed as it is difficult to fish where there is no water.


2. Florida Springs

Artist Margaret Tolbert says "although flow in the Itchetucknee has declined 15 percent, and White Springs, Nassau County no longer flows, it has scarcely excited notice..." in her book "Aquiferous". The quality and quantity of the water is at big risk, and the current political climate has made their preservation even more perilous.

1. Belleview Biltmore

The real reason for this post. I've blogged about Henry Plant's Tampa Hotel and the PICO building but never actually seen his former Hotel Belleview near Clearwater. Florida's last operating grand wooden hotel, the city of Bellair meets to consider a demolition permit next week. Want to help try to preserve it? Send an email to: the Mayor and commissioners: gkatica@townofbelleair.net, sfowler@townofbelleair.net, tshelly@townofbelleair.net, kpiccarreto@townofbelleair.net, mwilkinson@townofbelleair.net

Mermaids, the Wreck Bar & the Yankee Clipper

After World War II, Florida experienced one of those growth spurts it's famous for, as many GI's moved their families south to the Sunshine State. One of those vets was George W. "Bob" Gill, who built six properties in Ft. Lauderdale including the Yankee Clipper Hotel, an enormous beachside building that looks like an oceanliner washed up on the shore. Well kinda.

Vintage postcards show the Yankee Clipper during it heydays

The Clipper as it appears today

The 1956 structure, which today is part of the Sheraton Hotel chain, was the first in the area to host a large scale Polynesian revue, according to the hotel's mermaid-in-residence, Medusirena Marina. When the shows stopped in the 1960s, many of the performers moved onto Ft. Lauderale's legendary Mai Kai, according to Marina. Fortunately, the Yankee Clipper's Wreck Bar, a lounge created to look like an old Spanish Galleon, endured.

When I first learned of the Wreck Bar, I heard that there was a chance of it going the way of the Dodo during the hotel's renovations a couple years ago. But that didn't happen and if the crowds squeezing into the tiny bar during Hukilau are any indication, the future of this dark little bar looks bright. The tikiphiles were all there to see the show, for the Wreck Bar is one of only a handful of surviving "porthole" bars with windows into a swimming pool just behind the bar. And in this pool, live mermaids put on acrobatic, alluring shows like you used to see in movies like "Where the Boys Are".

Marina is the star of the show, and this half fish/half human performer is responsible for the resurrection of this lost art, and she is truly an artist, combining "aquatic theatre, dance and spectacle." She has a "pod" of aquatic performers, and for the performance I witnessed it included three mermaids, three pearl divers, a pilot (or boat captain) and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Obviously they were pulling out all the stops for this large, appreciative audience.

Marina in red surrounded by her pod

By the time Mrs. Ephemera and I got to the Wreck Bar, it was too full for two more, so we went topside and enjoyed being "backstage" throughout the bulk of the show. Marina was like a circus ringmaster directing her pod and I was amazed at how long they could all hold their breaths underwater (no Newt Perry breathing apparatus for these mermaids!) I squeezed into the bar towards the end of the performance and captured a few below-the-surface images, but the sheer volume of appreciative fans made it tough to get into position.

Beauty and the Beast

In the tiki community, Marina is a widely known, and I have enjoyed her entertaining Facebook posts for about a year. So it was an honor to meet her and hear her speak about her craft the next day. Stay tuned for part 2.

Vintage Florida Happenings

Tim Hollis, author of Selling the Sunshine State, is doing a talk at the Orange County Regional History Center on May 16th. Tim has written several great books including Dixie before Disney: 100 Years of Roadside Fun, Florida's Miracle Strip: From Redneck Riviera to Emerald Coast and Glass Bottom Boats & Mermaid Tails: Florida's Tourist Springs. In preparation of his next book on restaurants and motels, I found these vintage postcards in my archives.

Horseplay must be allowed at this motel pool, as the poor bathing capped beauty gets pummeled by the man with the farmer's tan.

It's not every day you see a boat on an acoustic tile ceiling with strange detached feet dangling above your dinner plate. Note the labeled fish decorating the room.

My favorite tiki restaurant, the Mai Kai in Ft. Lauderdale, was reportedly damaged during a hurricane but is now fixed up and better than ever. Check out their newly designed website.

And speaking of Ft. Lauderdale, my Vintage Roadside friends in Oregon seem to know about all the great fun stuff happening in the Sunshine State from the opposite corner of the country. First, they told me about the Floridiana Festival in Gulfport and now they've let me know about the Mermaid shows at the Wreck Bar in Ft. Lauderdale. Located in the Sheraton Yankee Clipper Hotel, the Wreck Bar is about to undergo renovation and the future of the pool observation ports are in doubt, which would effectively end the Mermaid shows. So if you want to catch the end of an era, high tail it to Ft.Lauderdale May 15, 22 or 29th.