| LAKELAND' S GRAND AND NOT SO GRAND HOTELS |
THE NEW FLORIDA |
 |
New Florida Hotel, late 1920's |
 |
New Florida Hotel, 1930's |
 |
New Florida Hotel from Lake Mirror |
 |
New Florida Hotel, 1938 |
|
Title Page |
The New Florida Hotel was designed by the St. Petersburg architectural firm of Avery and Round for owner T. L. Hendrix. Before construction began, however, the design was modified by hotel general manager Robert Borland and Arthur Williams of the Polk County Association of Architects. Originally known as The Florida, the hotel was the second high rise building to be constructed in Lakeland in two years. Joining its across the street neighbor, the Lakeland Terrace, as the second luxurious downtown hotel, the construction of the New Florida in 1926 reflected the unbridled optimism of boom time Florida.
Unfortunately for the backers of the New Florida, the boom was about to go bust. The New Florida opened on September 28, 1926, even though its interior was not yet finished. An ad in the Lakeland Ledger proclaimed
"...Lakeland itself has not been overlooked The roof garden, the
solarium, the civic club rooms, the convention rooms, the tower
room-----all have been provided that the Florida may be a veritable
civic center."
After its brief opening in the fall of 1926, the collapse of the Florida land boom caused the New Florida to close its doors. The Great Depression kept them closed until 1935. The Order of Railway Conductors reopened the New Florida in late 1935 and ran it until 1940. It was purchased in the latter year by Lakeland businessman John E. Ballenger.
The New Florida, like the Terrace, was run successfully through the 1940's and 1950's. Also as did the Terrace, the New Florida fell prey to changing travel habits and competition from motels. It was sold to the Levin family of Tampa in 1962 and converted to a senior living facility. The name was changed to the Regency Tower in 1980. In the spring of 1996, the Levin family announced that the hotel would be closed for renovations. The promised renovations were not done and the building remained closed.
The fate of the New Florida after it closed was eerily similar to that of its neighbor, the Lakeland Terrace. A number of proposals were made and rejected for its renovation and reuse, as was the case with the Terrace. The City of Lakeland purchased the building as the Downtown Development Authority did the Terrace. A number of city officials called for its demolition, as their predecessors did the Terrace. Historic preservation groups called upon the city to find a suitable use for the New Florida, just as they did for the Terrace.
Finally, like the Terrace, the New Florida was saved from the wrecking ball at the last minute. The City of Lakeland reached agreement with a South Florida developer in late 2002 to convert the old hotel into 77 market rate apartments. Interior demolition work began in the spring of 2003. The renovations were completed in March 2005 and the first tenants moved into their new apartments that same month.
Click on the links above to see various views of the New Florida.
|
