The Florida Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has selected 100 examples of architecture for a competition to determine the “top building” in the state as part of the organization’s centennial celebration.
Architects and the public are invited to cast their ballots at aiafla.org. Voting closes today at midnight; you may vote as many times and for as many buildings as you wish.
Seven of Downtown’s most distinctive historic structures are in the running. Downtown Today has been highlighting each of the neighborhood’s entries before the end of the contest.
• The Florida Theatre Building
• Built in 1927, designed by R.E. Hall & Co., Roy Benjamin
Designed in the Spanish Eclectic Style, also referred to as “Mediterranean Revival,” The Florida Theatre is one of the few remaining examples of the ornate movie palaces built across the country in the 1920s.
The seven-story building also is an early example of mixed-use development, combining the performing arts element with office space.
The original theatre included an orchestra pit with space for 24 musicians. Over the years, the stage has been the site of performances by Eddie Cantor, George Jessell, Bob Hope, Sally Rand and Elvis Presley.
In 1956, Presley performed the first indoor show of his career at The Florida Theatre. His appearance was made even more notable by the presence in the audience of Judge Marion Gooding, who had assured Presley he would be arrested if his trademark pelvic gyrations became too suggestive.
Presley didn’t change his act to suit the judge, but spent quite a bit of the show standing behind the grand piano on the stage.
The lobby, auditorium and stage area was restored and then reopened in 1983 by the Arts Assembly of Jacksonville.
The building is owned and maintained by the City while the theater portion is leased to The Florida Theatre Performing Arts Center Inc., which hosts more than 200 concerts and community events each year.
• The Chart House Restaurant
• Built in 1982, designed by Kendrick Bangs Kellogg
Kendrick Bangs Kellogg’s Chart House Restaurant on the Southbank is North Florida’s most distinctive example of Modern Organic Architecture.
Kellogg began his design career at the age of 7 when he built a fort out of used crates he found at construction sites in his neighborhood in San Diego, Calif.
While studying architecture at the University of Colorado in 1953, he met architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who would be an inspiration for Kellogg’s career.
Kellogg had spent more than a decade designing and building structures in Southern California and Hawaii when in 1967 he was commissioned to design the Chart House Restaurant in Santa Barbara, Calif., which became the company’s model for future locations.
The copper-clad ribs of the structure reach toward the St. Johns River while large concrete barnacle-like cones anchor the building to the ground. The interior undulates underneath laminated beams where giant concrete urns reach to the ceiling to connect with domed skylights.
• Riverplace Tower, formerly the Gulf Life Building
• Built in 1967, designed by Welton Beckett and Associates in conjunction with Kemp, Bunch and Jackson Architects
When the 28-story Gulf Life Tower opened on the Southbank, it was the tallest precast concrete building in the world. It held that distinction until 2002 when the Paramount Apartments in San Francisco opened.
Soon after the building was dedicated, an article about architecture in Time Magazine stated, “The Gulf Life, placed in a shoddy, chaotic part of Jacksonville, is a tonic for the area.”
It “acts as an organizing beacon,” it said.
“In the design of the Gulf Life Tower, we sought to provide a singular, bold statement combining the wishes of our client for a dynamic, functional landmark,” said architect Welton Beckett, who also designed the Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles and Disney’s Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando.
The building was bought in 1993 by Gate Petroleum Co., renovated and renamed “Riverplace Tower.”
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