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The Dixie Walesbilt Hotel, known as the Grand Hotel in later years, is one of a small number of skyscrapers built in the 1920s that still stand today and is a prime example of how optimistic people were during the Florida land boom. Built in 1926, it found financing through a stock-sale campaign in the local business community, costing $500,000 after it was completed(which equates to about $6 million today.)
The building architecture, masonry vernacular with hints of Mediterranean-Revival, is also a good example of the time is was built. It was designed by two well-known architects at the time, Fred Bishop who designed the Byrd Theatre in Virginia, and D.J. Phipps, whose designed both the Wyoming County Courthouse and Jail and the Colonial Hotel in Virginia.
The hotel was constructed using the “three-part vertical block” method, which became the dominant pattern in tall buildings during the 1920s. Three-part buildings are composed of a base, shaft and a cap, all noticeably visible.
The hotel opened as the “Walesbilt” in January 1927, shortly after the land boom had started to collapse and two years before the Great Depression began. It’s also best to note that the hotel opened around the same time the Floridan Hotel in Tampa opened, another hotel built during the Florida land boom.
In 1972, the hotel was purchased by Anderson Sun State and renamed the “Groveland Motor Inn”. The firm completely renovated the hotel and used it to host visitors to the area who were interested in Green Swamp, land sectioned off for land development. At the time there was heavy speculation in the land because of it’s close proximity to Walt Disney World and were selling for around $5,000 an acre at the time. That ended after a state cabinet designation of the swamp as an area of critical state concern, placing the land off-limits to any large land developments. The firm filed for foreclosure and the hotel was auctioned off in 1974. Despite RCI Electric purchasing the hotel, it remained empty for many years afterwards.
n 1978, the hotel was signed over to the Agape Players, a nationally known religious music and drama group, who would assume the mortgage and would pay the costs to make improvements to meet city fire and safety standards. The hotel was renamed the “Royal Walesbilt” and after extensive improvements were made, it became the headquarters for the Agape Players; using it as a teaching facility and the base from which the group launched their tours. In addition, they operated a restaurant, an ice cream parlor on the lobby floor and a “Christian hotel” on the upper floors, catering mostly to groups. The Agape Players disbanded in 1985 and put the property up for sale
Victor Khubani, a property investor from New York acquired the property and renamed the hotel “Grand”. The hotel closed briefly in December 1988, due to a variety of code violations and causing the owner to later pay $14,000 in fines. On August 31, 1990 it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, possibly for tax exemption reasons. In October 1991, The State Fire Marshall’s Office gave the owner one year to install a new sprinkler system and in May 1993, the code enforcement board gave Khubani until March to complete the work.
In March 1994, the hotel closed due to multiple code violations and was to remain closed until a new fire sprinkler system was installed. To reopen, the fire escapes and elevator, which did not function, would have to be repaired as well. In 1995, the hotel was auctioned off to a redevelopment firm, which dismantled part of the interior for reconstruction, which was never completed.
Since then, the hotel has deteriorated, becoming an eyesore to many of the residents of Lake Wales and nicknamed “The Green Monster” for the greenish color it has acquired from over the years. In 1995, it was even jokingly mentioned to become a sacrifice to “the bomb”, an economic boom that occurred in parts of Florida where movie production companies would pay cities to blow up buildings for their movies. In 2007, the city foreclosed on the structure for more than $700,000 in unpaid code fines, with hopes in finding someone to restore it.
Development firm, Dixie-Walesbilt LLC announced plans to restore the hotel, signing into an agreement with the city of Lake Wales in February 2010. By the agreement, the city would retain ownership of the building until a defined amount of work had been accomplished. The work must be completed within 16 months and the amount of money invested must succeed at least $1.5 million. The building would then be handed off the Dixie Walesbilt LLC, where they may continue with private funding or other methods to for debt funding.
Ray Brown, President of Dixie Walesbilt LLC, planned to invest $6 million into the renovation, with original plans to put retail stores on the ground floor and using the upper floors for as many as 40 condominiums.
On June 2, 2011, the city of Lake Wales agreed to deed the building off to Ray Brown in a 4-1 vote, after meeting the requirements of the redevelopment agreement. Though Brown submitted a list of costs to the city totaling $1.66 million, Mayor Mike Carter wasn’t satisfied with the results so far, pointing out that Brown failed to repair the windows and repaint the building. Previous owners had put tar on the building and then painted over it, so much of Brown’s investment went to stripping the tar off the exterior walls.
To repaint the building, Brown would also have to resurface the hotel with hydrated lime to replicate the original skin as well as the window frames would need to be constructed of Douglas fir, red cedar and gulf cypress. According to Brown, previous owners who renovated the building rarely removed the building original elements. They carpeted over intricate tile flooring, stuck tar paper above skylights and placed modern drinking fountains in front of the originals. He estimated about 98 percent of the building is still in it’s original form.
Restoration of the building’s exterior began in January 2015 and included surface repair, pressure washing, paint removal, chemical treatment, and a comprehensive resurfacing of the exterior.
While the original plans were for turning the building into condominiums, that has since changed and current plans call for operating the building as a boutique hotel. The hotel will feature geothermal cooling as opposed to traditional air conditioning, a permanent art gallery as well as theme gallery showings throughout the year, and the best WiFi/internet in the city. The project is expected to be completed in 18 to 24 months.
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
www.cityoflakewales.com/505/Dixie-Walesbilt-Hotel
www.abandonedfl.com/dixie-walesbilt-hotel/
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
Keep my Mom in mind today and keep optimistic! Her infectious smile and laugh that makes everyone happy. For a month, she has been in isolation and tested positive two weeks ago, and is making it through the COVID-19, age 93 at the epicenter (Life Care Center of Kirkland) in the US, and she will be 94 when it is over. When asked how she was feeling, she said, better than I was! She has made it through the great depression, tuberculosis quarantine, measles, mumps, chickenpox, and so many more episodes of flu than we can imagine. She has the faith and hope of a mustard seed and loves the Lord, Jesus Christ. With these factors, she is a perfect example that we must fight to flatten the line, keep self quarantined and keep smiling. Stay inside, please.
So many lives taken in this world from the virus. I am sorry to all who have lost someone they love.
This, too, shall pass! And we will be a better world for it.
Love to everyone!
1. I try to be optimistic at all times, but it usually doesn't work out.
2. I'm pretty lazy.
3. I have a text draft on my phone with a bunch of photo ideas, but I never get to using them.
4. I'm perfectly happy not having an SLR camera for now, I love mine :)
5. I get annoyed easily.
6. My favorite cereal is Peanut Butter Crunch, but I never eat it anymore.
7. I have a love/hate relationship with running.
8. I want to travel the world someday.
9. I don't really have many secrets.
10. I have a doctor's appointment in an hour.
+6 in comments
*Explored*
I think humans like to seek patterns and maybe it is comforting to do so...to find an order in things. I chose this fence since it's design forms a pattern that can make the light conform to a certain pleasing pattern also. My title came from a random word generator which I have used occasionally to choose the challenge topic. One day optimistic lung came up and though it did not make a good challenge topic I think it's randomness adds a nice chaotic imbalance. Another random thing that happened today is a couple of people waited for me to get my shot of the fence not realizing they were in the shot and one person ended up waiting in a very good spot.
for our daily challenge - patterns
© Image by Laurarama - All rights reserved. My Images may not be used, copied or altered in any way without my written permission.
"The optimistic teenager of the team, Michelangelo is a free-spirited, relaxed, goofy, mischievous, jokester known for his love of pizza and kind-hearted nature. Michelangelo wears an orange mask and wields a pair of nunchaku."
Sitting optimistically next to a picnic hamper, Hubert is carefully keeping his clean shoes - as can be seen - off the tablecloth while hoping that there are some goodies coming his way.
When the new Railway Children film is out in 2022 Oakworth and the KWVR generally may well be very popular for tourists. It is anyway and it could get hectic.
Canon 50D | ISO 100 | f11| 1/2 | 10mm | Lee 0.6 and 0.9 Soft Grads
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More Point Cartwright love.
Flies are buzzing around my head
Vultures circling the dead
Picking up every last crumb
Big fish eat the little ones
Big fish eat the little ones
Not my problem give me some
You can try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
(x2)
This one's optimistic
This one went to market
This one just came out of the swamp
This one dropped a payload
Fodder for the animals
Living on an animal farm
If you try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
(x2)
I'd really like to help you man
I'd really like to help you man.....
Nervous messed up marionette
Floating around on a prison ship
If you try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
If you try the best you can
If you try the best you can
Dinosaurs Roaming the earth (x3)
Processing
Landscape calibration, saturation, softlight, clarity, curves, recovery, extra gradient on the sky.
Here is a painting of a photo By Mimo Khair www.flickr.com/photos/mimokhair/49085718517/in/gallery-18... There is a lot more shadow in the photo but I kind of like the flood of brightness make me feel optimistic. Paint with oil.
Help support me by visiting my author page www.amazon.com/Albert-Alarcon-Jr./e/B07GYNYKJF?ref_=dbs_p...
So the forecast for today turned out to be a bit optimistic. Mostly Sunny, mid-70s. The latter was accurate, but it was substantially overcast, often with dark clouds. High humidity, and not a wisp of a breeze.
In other words, possible to do macro work, but less than ideal. So I made it into a retro day. I decided to go out and show what older gear could do...if I was successful. Took the D7100 and a Nikon macro lens that came out in 1973 (and hasn't been upgraded or replaced.) And a tripod...the only hope in those lighting conditions.
It was intended as more a play day than a serious outing. I wanted to see how 'macro-ish' I could be
This photo is one of the first I shot, as I was trying to dial in exposure settings. The D7100 settings are quite different than the newer bigger cameras. The glass, though, always tells the tale.
My two immediate reactions to the D7100...a camera I relied on as my main body for several years...were noticeable immediately. First, burst mode. What was considered fairly speedy when the D7100 came out is very slow now, and seems to have a 'check with me' feature which complicated things. Even in burst mode, with lower light, it seemed to want to confirm either focus or exposure before doing the burst. Probably a menu setting I've forgotten about since then. Not a serious drawback.
The other noticeable thing is no surprise...but not wonderful just the same. I've always relied on higher ISO settings...always pushing any particular camera to give me extra stops of exposure via higher ISO. The D7100 may have been an ISO improvement over previous cameras (though the D300 shot better at higher ISO, and it is some years older.)
Initially I set the D7100 to an ISO sensitivity just slightly lower than I would the D500 or D4s. That turned out to still be too high, with noticeable 'noise'. I dropped it back to ISO1000, which wasn't bad (this photo for example)...and then to even lower sensitivity. The darker sky environment was not conducive to ISO experiments.
There are always other ways to get a bit more shutter speed...without resorting to flash. This photo is a reasonable example of what is possible with fairly appropriate settings and a steady tripod.
My mage's cosplay of an what Conan would dress like as an optimist. The sword's rubber.
Nocturne RP sim
86 Melpomene, muse of tragedy, comes, of course, with bright optimistic colours, but her twisted
expression shows that she is inspiring bitter thoughts about a hero`s downfall w 20x29
Optimistic Sharp-shinned Hawk foraging for nesting materials.
Common activity... uncommon species for this area.
in EXPLORE: www.flickr.com/photos/michaelina2/53591116167/in/explore-...
Ser optimista no le hace daño a nadie. Siempre puedes llorar luego.
Lucimar Santos de Lima.
Sígueme en Instagram
“Reaching out, for new heights
You inspired me to try
Felt the magic inside
And I felt that I could fly
I'm looking at the world in an optimistic light
You made me appreciate my life
'Cos when you came you were like
Sunshine through my window
That's what you are
My shining star (Sunshine)
Making me feel like
I'm on top of the world
Telling me I'll go far.”
Sunshine | Gabrielle
A group of fishermen take a break from casting their reels to enjoy the dramatic sunset as the storm clouds roll in. Sandy Point, Trinidad & Tobago.
Ptilopsis leucotis
Northern white-faced Owl - Noordelijke witwangdwergooruil (Spain)
Canon 7D + Canon EF 300mm F2.8 L IS USM + 2x TC
Hey folks, I'm currently really busy getting my website to work and printing business cards and other stuff. So, I'll catch up on you and you know that I will! :-)
Take care,
Flo
I am not sure if this pedal rikshaw driver smiled like this because he was having his photo taken or because he was hopeful of getting a customer. I liked how this turned out though.
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
January 2019
The 50mm f/1.4 has been a solid walkabout lens for me so far. It is light and handles almost anything thrown at it. Love it!
An optimistic great blue heron has become a regular visitor at our garden pond. The fish are protected by a net, so hunting success is not driving the visits. Perhaps it hopes that, one day, the net will be gone.
I already purchased the pots & aquatic soil for my sprouting water Lotus/water lily seeds. I will just have to add water & hope the cats don’t mess with them. The pot has a magnolia design.
The Grand Opera House opened in April 1909. Its investors were 14 businessmen, including William Bell who shared an optimistic vision for the young city of about 4,200 – neighbouring Copper Cliff's population was about 3,000. The theatre originally had more than 1,000 seats, three balconies, majestic high ceilings, sophisticated art nouveau decorations throughout and an elegant lobby.
In December 1929, the first all-talking feature movie, “Lights of New York,” was shown. The owners of the renamed Grand Theatre invested $20,000 to install the Vitaphone sound system, which involved a record disc played in sync with the film.
During the 1930s, the Grand was owned by William Mason, owner of the Sudbury Star.*
The Grand survived The Depression, the death of vaudeville, and the Second World War. But by 1949, it was in need of major repairs. New owners renovated the building into two movie theatres, the Empire and the Plaza.
Laurentian University used the offices in the building at 28 Elgin for classes until its campus opened in 1964. Later, Gauvreau Academy of Dance and Modeling was located in the upper offices.
When the movie theatres closed in 1986, Ted Szilva, developer of the Big Nickel tourist attraction, bought the building for $400,000 and spent another $200,000 on renovations. Ornate chandeliers from the Capitol Theatre on Durham Street were installed and this added to the grandeur.
Legendary performer Tony Bennett opened the revitalized performance centre in 1987. During a renaissance from 1987 to the mid-1990s, it booked A-list entertainers such as Johnny Cash, Celine Dion, Tom Jones, Nana Mouskouri, k.d. lang, Conway Twitty, Wayne Newton, Engelbert Humperdinck, Crowded House, George Carlin, the Smothers Brothers, Howie Mandel and the Beach Boys.
Szilva's plans may have been too grand. Although Sudbury audiences were enthusiastic about its heady schedule of entertainment, the city's population was not large enough or wealthy enough to fill the theatre night after night. The building went into receivership.
Claude Michel purchased the Grand with his father, Arnel, and two private investors in 1988. He continued to book top acts, but asked the city for relief for property taxes of $50,000. The city "rented" the theatre for 40 nights over 12 months and community art groups could apply to use the space at no cost. The relief program ended in 1996.
Michel found running a nightclub, then known as the Big Thunder Bar, more profitable. The seats were removed and the sloped floor was levelled. Office space in the building was converted into apartments.
The Grand was put on the market in 1999 for $1 million, but there was little interest from prospective buyers. Michel finally sold it in 2013.
Today, the Grand Nightclub is a popular dance club that also books concerts and rents space for theatre productions and special events. A second bar, in the old Plaza theatre space formerly known as Coyotes, is now called Fuse.
Explored September 18, 2023 #260.