Gone but not forgotten in Jacksonville! (Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach: apartments, power lines, condos)

[majormadmax]

I grew up in Jax but now live in San Antonio. There is a great thread going on in the Alamo City forum on places that existed when people were growing up here that I thought I would start for Jacksonville. It must be an interesting topic as the San Antonio one has over 125 pages!

Anyhow, I am a 1981 Sandalwood graduate, and worked for Winn Dixie most of my teenage years. However, I did do a brief stint at the Mr. Dunderbach's in Regency Mall twice, once as a teenager and a second time before going to UF in 1986. Back then, you could see both ends of Regency from the middle.

Also, there used to be a Putt-Putt golf course off of the Arlington Expressway, not far from the Matthews Bridge. And the Midway Drive-In theater on Beach Blvd, I think there's a Super Wal-Mart there now. The Alhambra Dinner Theater as well, is that still around? I know The Sheik restaurant is, which has been around since I was in high school over 25 years ago! And Big Daddy's bar on Atlantic and Southside near Regency was pretty easy to sneak into when you were underaged, from what I was told!

I'll be honest, I barely recognize the place when I visit these days; but I am sure there are some other residents from the 70s and 80s on here that remember a few of the Bold New City's icons from that time...

Cheers! M2

[majormadmax]

More ramblings...

I remember when the Greaseman was on WAPE AM 690 (now FM 95.1) 1975-1982. I remember when Ron Turner's Suzuki opened up on Beach Blvd (I was there!), but not in its current location. I remember when Aqua East was a small hole-in-the-wall surf shop that primarily sold surfboards! I remember 'Le Chateau' in Atlantic Beach, and the Atlantic Beach pier that got swept away during one of the hurricanes. I remember when the bridges over the St Johns were painted the UF and FSU team colors. I remember mayors Hans Tanzler and Jake Godbold (the latter spoke at my father's memorial). I (kinda) remember when Jacksonville had a hocket team (the Sharks?). And a soccer team (name?). I remember watching the Suns play at Wolfson park (is it still there?). I remember the Gator Bowl (the stadium, not the game). I remember concerts at the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum (KISS, AC/DC, Molly Hatchet, Cheap Trick, Jethro Tull).

More to follow...

Cheers! M2

[riveree]

Nice thread !

Yes, the Alhambra Theatre is still there, right on Beach Blvd . Beach Blvd is changing big-time - remember when it was all woods going to the beach? No longer !

There's a new pier now at the beach....hopefully this one won't blow away .

New baseball grounds for the Suns too and a new Veteran's Memorial arena (I've only seen one concert there so far, but the acoustics were amazing!).

The Better Jacksonville Plan really came into its' own in the early 2000's with a lot of city improvements and it's still going on today.

There are still a lot of projects with momentum, but unfortunately, we are facing the possibility of some major budget cuts all across Florida if this new property tax reform goes through in January. If it does go through, you can expect a lot of progress in Jacksonville and all across Florida to stall . Since they named it a "Super" exemption, a lot of bozos are probably going to vote for it not even knowing what it is and it could really be the downfall of cities throughout Florida.

So yeah, keep an eye on us, things are bound to get interesting !

[majormadmax]

Just some more thoughts (slow day at work! )..

I remember when the Gulf Life building was the tallest in Jacksonville, then the Independent Life building was built! And you could stand on the middle section of the Main Street bridge when it went up, partier's from the Landing would do that on their way across to Friendship Park. I know the Alexander Brest Planetarium still does Cosmic Concerts...how long has that been going on??

And I've been on the new Jax Beach pier, but there was one further north towards Mayport back in the late 70s/early 80s where Le Chateau restaurant (owned by Preben Johansen) once stood. I believe there are condos/apartments there now, and I am not sure but the remnants of the pier may still exist between 9th St/Club Drive and 10th street.

Also, Ocean Avenue surf shop was a great place to hang out, I still have one of their boards but I don't know if it still floats! I remember being able to drive off of Mayport NS and onto Hannah Park. And my parents took me to the Officers Club on Mayport for my 16th birthday (1979). And I took my driving test out at Jacksonville Beach, and it was hard keeping my eyes on the road!

And anyone who has been down Mt Pleasant Ropad to Wonderwood Drive, I remember when that bridge just before Girvin was made out of wood! Same with the two down on Ft Caroline Road, past St John's Bluff going east. Speaking of which, does anyone remember the area settled by former slaves on Ft Caroline Road, just before McCormick intersects with it? It was called Cosmo, and I see on GoogleMaps that the name remains, despite the fact that most of the land was sold off and is now developed. There also used to be an archery range near there, I suspect it is gone too.

I remember being able to ride up the power lines from Ft Caroline all the way to Beach Blvd on our dirt bikes. That was quite an adventure back in the days before cell phones. If you broke down out there, you were hosed!

Cheers! M2

[majormadmax]

OK, another memory...

I remember when the Chuck-E-Cheese opened up over near Regency off of Atlantic Blvd (behind The Shiek). It was a different place back then, I recall them showing old surf movies on the big screen projector. I also remember playing games such as Star Castle on tabletop consols. The reason that game in particular stands out was that we learned how to defeat it but simply going back and forth horizontally without slowing down. The target in the middle of the game could not turn fast enough to shoot back, so you could destroy the rings and it without fail. We spent hours on that game...

Cheers! M2

[majormadmax]

OK, it appears I am the only one having fun with this, but what the heck!

Here's one more from the history books...the United States Football League's Jacksonville Bulls!

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/d/d9/JacksonvilleBulls.png (broken link)

And the Tea Men??



Or even harder to remember, the Jacksonville Barons ice hokey team, who were only around for a few seasons (72-74??).



Cheers! M2

[Magnolia Bloom]

Anyone remember Applejacks in San Marco?

[riveree]

Oh, and we used to have The Lizard Kings (ice hockey), but now we have The Barracudas !

[T_Slim]

I'll play too. Remember having to pay tolls on the bridges?

[majormadmax]

Wowi, I didn't know Jacksonville still had an ice hockey team! But I do remember paying tolls at the bridges. The funny thing is, back then traffic was much thinner and it didn't cause the jams it would today!

Glad to see some responses, but this hasn't generated the amount of interest the San Antonio thread has!

Cheers! M2