The Carling facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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The Carling
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 Location in Central Jacksonville
Location in Florida
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| Location | Jacksonville, Florida, USA |
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| Area | Duval County |
| Architect | Thompson, Holmes & Converse |
| Architectural style | Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals |
| NRHP reference No. | 91000225 |
| Added to NRHP | February 28, 1991 |
The Carling building, once known as the Carling Hotel and Hotel Roosevelt, is a very old and important building in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It was built in 1925 and is located at 31 West Adams Street in Downtown Jacksonville. It started as a hotel and stayed that way until 1964. Today, it is a building where people live in apartments.
Building the Carling Hotel
This tall, 13-story building first had 335 rooms. It was designed in 1925 by famous architects Thompson, Holmes & Converse from New York City. The building was made in the beautiful Italian Renaissance style.
A newspaper story from that time said it had "300 rooms with bath, running ice water, fans and the latest equipment." The first three floors were covered with a special stone called Indiana limestone. Above that, the building was made of red brick. The top parts were decorated with terra-cotta, and it had a fancy railing at the very top. The whole building was built to be completely fireproof. When it opened on September 1, 1926, it was one of the best hotels in Jacksonville.
It was a bit unusual for the hotel to be built in the middle of a block, instead of on a corner. The Dinkler Hotel Company from Atlanta built and managed it. This company owned many nice hotels in the southeastern United States. The hotel was named after Carling L. Dinkler, who was said to be the youngest hotel boss in the U.S. at the time.
History of the Carling Building
The hotel changed its name to the Hotel Roosevelt in 1936. It was a well-known building in downtown Jacksonville for more than 25 years. In 1937, a two-story part was added to the back of the building, which allowed people to enter from Monroe Street.
Sadly, the hotel was the place of a terrible fire in late December 1963. This fire caused 22 people to lose their lives and damaged the building by over $350,000. Because of the fire, the hotel had to close in 1964.
After being empty for almost 20 years, the building was turned into apartments for older people. It was called Jacksonville Regency House. However, this apartment building closed in 1989.
On February 28, 1991, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the United States. Even so, the building stayed closed for nearly 14 more years. Not much work was done on the building for almost 40 years. Its old systems, like pipes and wires, were very old and had problems like leaks and rot.
The Carling Today
In 2003, a developer from Jacksonville named Vestcor started a project to save and restore The Carling. They got a loan of $16.5 million and $5 million in grants from the city of Jacksonville to help with this big project.
The company brought back many of the building's original beautiful features. These included special windows called Palladian windows, shiny terrazzo floors, and two grand marble staircases. These stairs led from the main lobby to what used to be the ballroom on the second floor. The elevators, heating and cooling systems, electrical wiring, and plumbing were all updated to be modern. A new parking garage with 237 spaces was built next to The Carling. The old ballroom was changed into a large community room, a fitness center, and a media room for residents. New, modern comforts were added, but the historic look and feel of the building were kept safe.
The building was renamed The Carling. Its 100 apartments opened in July 2005, after 20 months of construction and $29 million spent. In October 2007, Vestcor started renting out space in The Carling's commercial area, which is about 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2). Since then, an art gallery called "The Art Center Cooperative, Inc." and a barber shop have opened there.
In late December 2009, Vestcor asked for changes to their loan terms. They said they had lost money for three years on The Carling and another building they had renovated, 11 East Forsyth. They asked for three years of only paying interest on their loan. They also asked for low-interest loans for people who might want to rent the mostly empty commercial spaces in their buildings. Three months later, the city agreed to let them delay paying the main part of the loan, but they did not approve the loans for tenants.
