I’ve always been rather curious about the Skyline Building on 9th St around 26th Ave N and I realized something pretty special - aside from porn the internet might be good for learning a little more about it. A warning to you parents: this post is largely sarcasm free, so you may wish to send the children out of the room.

The internet agrees with itself on the following facts:

1. The building is 6 stories tall
2. The design was highly influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim in NY
3. The building has always been controversial both because of the design and because of the height for a building that far north
4. There used to be a restaurant at the top of the building
5. When it opened it was the Security Federal Savings and Loan building

Where the internet starts to argue with itself has to do with when it was built - the city says it was built in the 50s while other sources say 1961. The city is plain wrong, though, as the Guggenheim wasn’t completed until 1959. Late 1961 seems like more of a possibility and this picture is dated 1962 which seems to back that up.

Aside from these awfully boring facts and the fact that the building sold for $3.15M in 2005 (a steal for 31,000 sq ft), the internet doesn’t have a whole lot else to say. In fact, I still don’t even know why it is called the Skyline Building. Hell, I was able to find out way more about the bank itself (founded in 1955 by Andrew Oliver McEachern who went on to found Living Faith Church of Florida). Much like so many church folk, though, he had a sordid past:

On August 29, 1975, a year after leaving office, Oliver McEachern was arrested for accepting $1,000 or more for each of five votes favoring the rezoning of land and for lying to the officers who investigated the charges. He accepted a no contest plea, leaving in question his actual guilt. On January 13, 1976, he was sentenced to one year and one day in state prison. He served seven months in Avon Park Correctional Center. While in prison, McEachern became convinced that he could relieve his guilt only by telling others of the forgiveness offered by God. Upon release he formed a ministry to prisoners, visiting prisons in the United States and Canada.

What a silly guy! Anyway, maybe one of you slackers out there in interweb land can do some research about the building itself and post a comment. In the meantime, check out some dope photos from the Florida State Archives below.

Note that the typeface of the Security at the top of the building has changed in this photo. Design decision? Someone realized that those skinny deco letters that were originally there were hard as shit to read?

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I spotted this out front of Florida Craftsmen. Are there more like it? In true Florida fashion there is a url on it but of course it is an expired domain name… sigh.

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You may have heard that ye olde BayWalk is in some poopoo on account of the owner deciding for some reason he didn’t want to pay his mortgage. I guess owning an entertainment and shopping complex doesn’t require much common sense, ’cause I thought it was pretty basic knowledge that no payment + time = foreclosure. No?

The most recent news is a proposal by owner Fred Bullard, Jr. to simply bail. Hi bank, here’s the deed, have fun, kthxbye. It looks like he stands to lose maybe $1M in equity, but he’s confident the bank won’t seek any additional money from him… uh, wait, what? You default on your loan, then bail and you think they’ll be cool with that? Well, good luck with the retail owners and Muvico who are threatening to sue you, dude.

Here’s the good news, YOU CAN LEASE BAYWALK! Fred’s son, Fred Bullard, III, is currently offering BayWalk for a mere $20-25/sf/yr for the available spaces. Take a look for yourself.

Personally I hate BayWalk, but that isn’t saying much since I hate just about everything. Here’s the reality, though - BayWalk did play a part in the “renaissance” of downtown. Some day I will remove that word from quotes when we can actually get this shit right, but for the sake of argument we’ll say that BayWalk indeed brought people to downtown who hadn’t been there in ages and kept bringing them back thanks to the theater. Unfortunately, this is Florida, and despite a recipe for success the ‘Walk is failing.

There are lots of fail theories, but one common one (especially among store owners) is “unruly crowds of teenagers” and “the city for not doing more to control them.” That’d be a quote from Bruce Rabon, the owner of Hurricane Pass (who, incidentally, has a REALLY AWESOME INTERSITE). And really, downtown does have a lot of those damn dirty St. Pete kids… what is the deal with that? I can’t imagine that’s enough to make the whole thing fail though.

The future of the ‘Walk is pretty much up in the air, but I’m hoping someone else comes in and buys it - whether I like it or not it has a place and purpose here. The danger right now is that the owner of the Muvico is considering closing, which would kill that whole place immediately. If that does happen we’ll get another beautiful St. Pete Fail like that gorgeous 600 block of Central. Sigh.

Fun Fact: According to the Feather Sound Church Bulletin, December 19 was both Fred’s birthday and his Anniversary. Happy Birthday and Anniversary Fred!

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Looks like Les “I suck at zoos” Salisbury read my previous post and is afraid he will indeed be mauled by tigers. Check it:

Five deputies are guarding the door and were hired by the hotel, but it’s not clear who’s paying them. Zoo spokeswoman Rachel Nelson will not say if the zoo is footing the bill.

That’s right, there are 5 cops guarding the hearing being held to determine the precise level of retarded that Les and his zoo managin’ are. I guess he’s skeered all those pissed off animals are likely to find out about the hearing and show up en masse to tear him a new zoohole.

image via CharlesFBI@Worth1000

Also worth a read:

St. Pete Po-po accidently leave possibly-not-actually-guilty detainee in van while they grab a quick lunch | No, seriously

Tampa dude who tries to outrun train, but instead gets cockblocked by a crossing arm, will probably thank God once he wakes up from coma | No, seriously

Badass store owner returns to work after being shot 3 times a couple weeks ago, which happens to be the second time this has happened, while you complain about some totally pussy minor hang nail or some shit | No seriously

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Er, retirement. I had all I could take of teh bay area, teh Florida, teh world… and most of all the demanding lifestyle of a terribly popular internets blogger. But you know what? This damn place is doomed and either we can have a slight impact in slowing that process, or more realistically we can watch it all go down in flames while we point and laugh. You decide, people, this shit is up to you.

So, let’s recap what’s been happening in our absence, shall we?

WTF CRIME CENTRAL!?!?

Dude, what the shit is up with the ‘burg and the rampant crime? Desperate economic times? Lazy police force? Suckers who are easy to rob? Seriously, this shit needs to stop. I’m starting a neighborhood watch program that works like this: I watch from the safety of my home in not-downtown while all the crime happens there.

WTF ZOO ASSHOLE?!?!

This douche from the zoo had better get fucking fired. In fact, he better get mauled by a goddamn tiger. I mean, seriously, the shit just keeps getting worse and worse. And let’s not forget I called this shit ages ago.

WTF DEATH OF CULTURE?!?!

After a hiatus from attending events I hit up the Pale Horse Bask show and guess what? THE BAY AREA STILL DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO BUY ART! Yeah, I know, I was hoping for a lot, but come the fuck on. People, art is supposed to cost more than $50, buy some. You watch, Chris Parks who runs Pale Horse is going to learn one of these days and he’ll stop throwing awesome openings for people who just want to look cool and drink free beer. Oh, and I’m pretty sure I can see a nipple in this photo.

And on that note, we’re back. Well, we’re back until we leave again, so cherish the minutes.

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