4 Historic Local Buildings that Deserve a New Purpose

In our popular article series Jax Evolved, we discuss historic buildings in Jacksonville that have been repurposed into new uses and, as a result, are preserved and protected for the foreseeable future.

But for each of those buildings that find new life, there’s at least one historic property that continues to rot away. Whether it’s due to poor maintenance, structural issues, or lack of demand, many key historic properties in Jax – particularly in the urban core – continue to go unused.

And the longer they go unused, the worse their condition becomes, until eventually the city or the property owner opts to demolish them. It’s what’s happened to many properties over the years, decimating parts of the city’s history that could have been restored and lived on for years.

We’ve compiled a list of a few properties that would be great candidates for a Jax Evolved-style re-purposing, due to their historic value or their location – or both. For the purposes of this article, we left off buildings like the Laura Street Trio that have pending revival plans in the works.

PUBLIC SCHOOL NO. 4 (ANNIE LYTLE PUBLIC SCHOOL / RIVERSIDE GRAMMAR SCHOOL)

The long-vacant Public School No. 4 building sits somewhat ominously next to Riverside Park, surrounded by a tall fence and shaded by the interstate overpass built practically on top of it.

The mostly-brick structure was designed in the neoclassical style by Rutledge Holmes and features large decorative columns. The building was originally home to Riverside Grammar School, which opened its doors to students in 1918.

The school was later renamed Annie Lytle Public School in honor of a local principal.

The school shut down in 1960 and the building was converted into office space, but by the ‘70s, it had been put up for sale.

It’s been vacant for decades now and is in pretty terrible shape, having survived vandalism, a fire, and years of neglect.

But it’s still standing. And it’s not going anywhere, as the building was designated as a landmark by the city in 2000 and has a small but vocal group of supporters that turn up any time demolition is discussed.

Finding a new use for the PS No. 4 building would be no small task, given the enormous amount of work it would take to repair years of damage and to properly restore what remains intact. It’s also allegedly haunted.

But it’s also located in a popular and growing Riverside neighborhood, next to one of the city’s most beautiful parks. The right developer – or even the city – may one day find this charmingly terrifying former school building perfect for their next project.

CLAUDE NOLAN CADILLAC BUILDING

Located next to Confederate Park in Springfield, the old Claude Nolan Cadillac building fell victim to a hideous remodel in the mid-‘40s that saw its original façade covered up with paneling.

But underneath what was added during that remodel lies a beautiful historic structure designed by Henry J. Klutho. The original Klutho-designed building opened in 1910, a grand three-story dealership worthy of the upscale brand it sold.

The dealership stayed in the building through its major exterior remodel into the 1980s, when they left for the Southside. E.H. Thompson Co. was the building’s most recent tenant, but it’s now been vacant for years.

As the building lies dormant, bits of the old brick exterior have become increasingly visible. A historically-minded developer willing to spend a pretty penny could potentially strip off some of that 1940s façade and restore some of the building’s original charm.

And its location within the close-knit – and fast-growing – historic Springfield neighborhood makes the building all the more appealing and a perfect candidate for reuse.

Any redevelopment effort would have to contend with ongoing efforts to clean up contamination that supposedly occurred on the land in the late 1800s.

FIRE STATION NO. 5

Built in 1910, the old Fire Station No. 5 building served the Brooklyn and Riverside area for nearly 100 years before shutting down for good over a decade ago.

Since then, the building has sat boarded up and unused, and its very existence has remained in limbo.

The city actually gave the property the building sits on to Fidelity National Financial. The company owns the building next door and at one point was planning to expand their campus onto the land where the fire station is currently located.

So far, those plans haven’t materialized. And the fire station has been allowed to remain standing. It’s likely that, if Fidelity ever does develop the property, the fire station building could be moved to a lot nearby in Brooklyn.

With Brooklyn’s residential profile expanding rapidly, a building like the old Fire Station No. 5 building could be useful to re-purpose into retail or restaurant space – whether it happens at its current spot at Riverside Avenue and Forest Street, or somewhere nearby.

233 WEST DUVAL STREET

While JEA’s current headquarters building will soon be losing its main tenant, the public utility company’s former HQ building remains vacant decades later.

The 19-story, KBJ Architects-designed office tower at 233 W. Duval Street was built in the early 1950s as the original Independent Life building. The company grew even faster than they anticipated, though, so by the ‘70s they outgrew that building and left for a new, much larger tower by the river.

When Independent Life moved out, JEA purchased the building and took over the space. But less than two decades after they moved into their new building, JEA purchased another office tower at 21 W. Church Street.

By 2000, JEA had fully vacated the Duval Street building; they would put the property up for sale shortly after. A couple of attempts at redeveloping the property were made during the mid-to-late 2000s, but they each fizzled out.

The building has now sat vacant for nearly twenty years. It’s in relatively good condition but needs major interior upgrades – likely including the removal of asbestos.

A developer willing to take on the task of gutting parts of the interior could turn this long-neglected office tower into a multi-use space in the mold of the 100 North Laura and Barnett Bank buildings’ revivals.