7. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Police Memorial Building

501 East Bay Street

The Police Memorial Building during the late 1970s. (G.E. Kidder Smith Image Collection MITLibraries)

When it was completed in 1977, the Police Memorial Building combined an often formidable municipal function with a welcoming public park. Designed by William Morgan, the modern building featured a below ground parking garage and a rooftop neighborhood garden with multiple terraces, plantings, a pool, fountain and heliport.

At some point, the publicly accessible rooftop park was declared a security hazard and closed, transforming the complex to the formidable structure Morgan’s original vision intended to soften.

Vintage rooftop plaza view of the Police Memorial Building, circa 1977. (Times-Union archives slide show)

The demolition of the Police Memorial Building’s rooftop terrace. (J. Register Company)

The demolition of the Police Memorial Building’s rooftop sculpture and fountain. (J. Register Company)

The Police Memorial Building in 2016.

One can only imagine the masterpiece that could have anchored East Bay Street if the landscaping in Morgan’s rooftop park would have been allowed to mature, similiar to that of the Oakland Museum of California.

An aerial of the mature Oakland Museum of California’s roof garden. (Connections Architecture and Urban Design blog)

6. Arnold Edwards Building

129 West Adams Street

Links to additional images from Vintage Jacksonville

https://vintagejacksonville.net/2013/09/24/west-adams-street-1954/

https://vintagejacksonville.net/2013/01/29/eastman-kodak-stores-inc/

In 1924, 129 West Adams Street was completed to serve as a new location for the Arnold-Edwards Piano Company. During the 1950s, the first floor of the three-story building was occupied by Eastman Kodak and Lahn’s dress store. Although, a flat surface covering the front facade’s upper level windows has been installed, the initials of Eastman Kodak still remain along the building’s roofline.

The Arnold Edwards Building today

5. Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce Building

404 North Julia Street

The original facade of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce building at the intersection of Julia and Duval Streets. (City of Jacksonville Historic Preservation Office)

Completed in 1927, this massive Mediterranean Revival structure was the home of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and then the Merck Drug Company before its facade was radically altered by the Marine National Bank in 1957. In 2001, First Alliance Bank purchased Marine National Bank. Two years later, it acquired EverBank, an online bank with $250 million in deposits. The company later adopted the EverBank name and the rest is history.

The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce Building today