Save "Old Florida" (Deerfield Beach, Sarasota: for sale, apartments, condo)

[sunnie741]

I grew up in the North Palm Beach area and still come to visit often. I am saddened each time to see the constant changes and the disappearance of my hometown to the growth of construction. Last time I was home, I drove through Jupiter and could not believe my eyes on the massive construction. I just learned that the Tiki bar in Rivera Beach is closing on July 6th and construction is under the way. The Tiki was a must go everytime we come to visit. Now there is rumblings that Panama Hatties in North Palm Beach/Palm Beach Gardens is up for sale and will be turned into another monstrosity of concrete. Below is more of hte story and a petition to sign to prevent the approval of yet more destruction of classic Florida spots. Thanks for taking the time to read.

https://www.change.org/petitions/hal-valeche-pb-county-commissioner-we-want-the-p-b-g-city-council-city-of-p-b-g-and-p-b-county-to-veto-the-approval-for-the-pga-waterfront-wmxd-pud-project-petition-ppud-14-01-000034-and-all-associated-petitions






Hal Valeche - PB County Commissioner: We want the P.B.G City Council, City of P.B.G., and P.B....
www.change.org The proposed development planned for the corner of PGA Blvd and Ellison Wilson Rd, a.k.a. PGA Waterfront WMXD, and all associated petitions (see...

[TriMT7]

From what I understand the Tiki Hut will be coming back, just at a different location due to the redevelopment of the Riviera waterfront.

[politiker]

Honestly, some things gotta go with growth. It's sad but happens the constant change is a normal business process. Subsidizing businesses beyond really obvious historical artifacts seems a bit wasteful.

[ByeByeLW]

I miss so many Old Florida things that would probably be considered dumpy or tacky today.

Thanks for the heads up. Time to go get some photos.

[cfbs2691]

Originally Posted by ByeByeLW

I miss so many Old Florida things that would probably be considered dumpy or tacky today..

SO agree!

[8to32characters]

Originally Posted by ByeByeLW

I miss so many Old Florida things that would probably be considered dumpy or tacky today.

Thanks for the heads up. Time to go get some photos.

I've been traveling to PBC since the late 70's/early 80's and lived in the area from mid-90's to late 2000's, and I never really got a sense of "Old Florida" in PBC--at all. Perhaps, I'm just not old enough; however, most of the developed land in PBC comprises of suburban development ranging from 70's era in the south to 90's era in the north with the remaining ~5% or so of developed land being either extremely opulent/decadent--and has been for almost a century--or extremely impoverished. I'm just not seeing where in PBC you'd find the "Old Florida" charm like you would in, say, Winter Park, Sarasota, St. Augustine, or even Naples.

[ByeByeLW]

We're probably not thinking of the same type of "charm".

I don't necessarily mean genteel mansions surrounded by live oaks.

I'm talking the mom and pop motels that used to line Federal Highway. The Wishing Well Motel, Amigo Motel that became "A Delray Inn" (had a cool neon sign-it's now a rehab place and the sign is long gone), Farmer in the Dell Motel, mom and pop souvenir shops, trailer parks that were more like the Tin Can tourist places of the 40s-60s than drug areas. It was still a couple of years before these places were trashed.


We moved to Deerfield Beach in 1974. My best friend (we were HS sophomores) was dating an "older guy" in Delray and we used to sneak up there to see him. It was like going back to the 50s. Deerfield wasn't like that.

There were still so many palm and coconut trees that you had to worry about getting hit in the head with a big frond or a coconut when you walked down the street. Lethal yellowing took care of that, unfortunately.

Swinton Ave had some big old houses. Still does.

Dr Lee had his equine vet practice and horses off of Barwick on several acres. A gorgeous place. The Rosackers lived down the street in their small version of Tara. They owned acres of farmland west of Military that have been developed.

Dr Lee's land is now a development called Lee's Crossing.

The area around the Linton bridge was a mangrove estuary, not an old folks' home.

We could walk to Boca from our house without going over the little bridge on Federal on that crosses the canal. There was another bridge further east.

Blood's Hammock Groves was west of Congress on Linton. It was a very popular orange grove run by the Blood family.
It was carved out of an oak hammock. It is now a housing development, apartments, and a school. I think it closed in the early 90s.

There was the old general store out on 441. Guys played guitars and checkers out on the porch. That was still there in the early 90s as well.

Up till the late 90s there were still roadside orange/fruit stands. I remember buying ice cold oj and ice cream on work breaks.

We started coming to Florida in 68 when I was still a little kid. I'll never forget how my cousins went to the Kwik Chek (now known as Winn-Dixie) in their bare feet. I thought it was so disgusting.

And I'll never forget the cool houses right on the beach falling to the wrecking ball. Cypress or Dade pine ceilings, coquina rock fireplaces.

And so many old motels.

Merkels Orchids on Federal in Boynton. Miss that place. Now it's a condo complex.

When these things went, they went fast.

Fortunately, some people preserved what they could. The subdivision called Foxe Chase off of Germantown Road in Delray did a fantastic job of preserving the old native trees while still building really big houses. It is one of the most gorgeous places in South Florida. So much nicer than all of those " ficus hedge and sod" developments.

Seriously, those are two of the worst things you can plant in Florida.

[klaucka]

I was never here during the period ByeBye just described, but it sounded great - especially the general store, I cant even imagine. Thanks for this bit of nostalgia, great post!

[ByeByeLW]

Ha, you should have been around to see the "Boynton Pit" in the middle of the night!

I had a paper route out in the 441/Hagen Ranch Rd area in the early 90s. I could tell you some stories lol.

[klaucka]

ByeBye, just DMd you, hopefully it works....sometimes I am not sure my messages go thru..