Forgotton Architecture - Clearwater, Florida 1974

I came across this little set of slides as I was going through a new box of found photos. The vacationer must have stayed at Schrafft's Motel, and took a walk around the Cleveland St. / Drew Street area with his camera. It's a beautiful spot of high bluffs overlooking the bay and Clearwater Beach to the west. It dawned on me that ALL these buildings are now gone! So here's a post for Clearwater lost architecture.

Clearwater Baptist Church
Was located on the bluffs overlooking Clearwater Beach on Cleveland Street. Torn down to make way for a huge condo project.

The Clearwater Chamber of Commerce
This googie/mid-century modern building was on the bluff behind the old Library. Not sure when it was taken down. It would make a cool house, I think! This is now the northern end of Coachman Park.

Back of the COC.

Clearwater Public Library.
This was taken down and replaced with a new one in 2004.

Schrafft's Motel, Restaurant and Lounge.
Across the street from the COC and Library, this was a great place to sneak into and take a dip in the pool after a hot day at the beach. The zig-zag building shown here is gone, but its double still exists on the water (was the restaurant). It is now owned by the Church of Scientology.

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Space Satellite Hotel, Pompano Beach, FL

Space Satellite Hotel, Pompano Beach, FL - March 1961
1450 South Ocean Blvd Pompano Beach, FL • No longer existing

Current news about the 40th anniversary of the Apollo lunar landing in July 1969 got me thinking about Florida tourism's adaptation to the space program. NASA was the pinnacle of the world's technology, where anything seemed possible, and all new technology was embraced.

Two months after this photo was taken, Astronaut Alan Shepard Jr. became the first American in space as he made a 15-minute suborbital flight in the Freedom 7 Project Mercury capsule launched from Cape Canaveral.

Florida Hotels, especially in and around the Space Coast got in on the act, and this one is no exception.

Although a blurry and red Ektachrome to start with, we can still enjoy the charms of this roadside signage. The Space Satellite Hotel boasts kitchens, Restaurant and Lounge, and of course — the Outer Space Room. We are missing the proper sign however, cut off on the right of the slide. I'm betting it was outta site! There's more on it than I scanned, and the headline act is Bill Carty!




Space Satellite's Outer Space Room - Bill Carty Album Cover
Here's a nice shot of the "Outer Space Room"! Overhead Lights act as stars in the heavens above, as a lunar landscape and blue-uniformed bartenders and hostesses set the stage for an evening of space age entertainment! The curved architecture in this club is a natural complement to the outer-space theme.

Photography: Sante Schwarm Sheldon. Stereoddities, Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, FL Catalog CC-1A. Undated.




Space Satellite Match Book
Undated.

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More 1956 Hollywood Fun - The Roosevelt

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Pool & Cabanas - 1956
Looks like a great place to spend your days tanning while waiting for that big part.

35mm Kodachrome slide transparency.

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Courtyard - 1956
With relaxing privacy like this, it's easy to see why it was (and is) popular with the Hollywood A-list. The parking garage on the right is cleverly made to fit in with the units by using the redwood siding motif. Love the slab stepping stones and lush landscaping.

35mm Kodachrome slide

View Looking north from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel - 1956
The Art Frost garage building is still there filled with gift shops & souvenir stands. The Victorian buildings to the left are gone — the Hollywood Entertainment museum is now there.

The building and property up on the hill is very interesting. Yamashiro (which means mountain palace) was completed in 1914 by the Bernheimer brothers to house and showcase their collection of Asian antiques and treasures. It is a replica of a palace in the Yamashiro mountains near Kyoto, Japan. Now it is the Yamashiro Restaurant. They boast of having the oldest building in California — an imported pagoda from Japan. (Mission San Juan Capistrano is the oldest native building) History here.

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Cabana Suites - 1956
Marilyn Monroe stayed at the Hollywood Roosevelt and sources vary for how long and where. She reportedly stayed in Cabana suite 246 overlooking the pool, and posed for a toothpaste (or suntan lotion) commercial (or magazine ad) on the diving board seen here (since removed). In Marilyn’s room there was a full-length mirror that was eventually moved to the hotel manager’s office. A hotel employee was dusting the mirror one day and saw Marilyn staring back at her. Or so the story goes.

35mm Kodachrome.

An early morning mist (smog?) colors the Los Angeles skyline over the Cabanas at the hotel. Not many of the smaller buildings (one-time residences?) seen in this slide are left.

35mm Kodachrome.

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Riverview High School demolition, Sarasota, FL - Paul Rudolph

Was driving by last month during a storm to photograph some Victor Lundy churches in the area when I noticed the demolition of Riverview High well under way. Not sure about the situation, but it doesn't look good.

More info: saveriverview.blogspot.com/


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Chicago Railroad Fair - 1950

Cypress Gardens at the Chicago Railroad Fair - 1950
Water Thrill Show, August 1950. The promotional director of the Fair enjoyed the ski show at the Gardens in Florida so much, he invited Dick Pope to stage a show at the Chicago Fair in 1949-50. The first night ski show was held here. General Admission 50¢.

The road show concept was so successful, that the organizer, Tommy Bartlett, went on to operate several ski shows including the long-running annual event at the Dells in Wisconsin.


"Frontiers of Freedom" - a Pageant Play at the fair, depicting transportation from 1673 to 1948.


"Frontiers of Freedom" finale.

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Vintage fun in California — 1956

Fire Hose, Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco
What happens behind Alioto's stays behind Alioto's.
The front can be seen here.

Hollywood!
A couple of hip chicks from Illinois strike a pose behind the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and Grauman's Theater on N. Orange. The mint green 1955 Chevy 210 4-door sedan sets off the girls' red and blue slacks, and you almost miss the zig-zag alteration on miss blue-pants. She looks like trouble...

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Sunrise Shopping Center - Mid Century Modern Ft. Lauderdale - 1956

A brilliant blue sky and bright Florida sun highlight the Sunrise Shopping Center in Ft. Lauderdale in May 1956. Saks Fifth Avenue was the anchor store. Enclosed in 1980 and renamed the Galleria, it has no resemblance to this at all.

Dad just moved to Florida to start his architecture practice and this mall must have interested him. I have to agree. Shot on Kodachrome 35mm transparency, Argus Rohlik camera.


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