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Demolition permits were approved by the City of Jacksonville to knock down the building full of six decades of history.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s been years since anyone booked a room at the Thunderbird, and now it looks like it’s coming down.
Demolition permits were approved Thursday for the Thunderbird Motor Hotel on the Arlington Expressway.
When that wrecking crew moves in here, it’s sure to bring up a lot of memories for long time Jacksonville residents who can recall the hotel in its glory days.
“In the 60s and early 70s when I was a kid, my dad, every now and then would say, ‘Let’s take the family to the Thunderbird.’ That was the big deal,” said Jacksonville City Councilman Matt Carlucci.
Carlucci says his family didn’t go out to eat a ton when he was a kid, but when they did make it down to the Thunderbird, it was always a treat.
He says he can still remember looking up and seeing the big chandelier and one of Jacksonville’s swankiest spots.
However, his favorite memory at the restaurant that opened up way back in 1959 didn’t come until much later, at a fundraising event when he sat next to Harlem Globetrotters Legend Meadowlark Lemon.
“He’d take that basketball, hide it behind is back, and you’d never know where he was going to throw the thing. I got his autograph and told him how I admired him growing up as a kid.”
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Abandoned Florida reports the Thunderbird hosted huge acts like Fats Domino and the Rolling Stones back in its hay day.
It turned hands several times over the years and has sat vacant for more than a decade, and now, the walls with so many memories will come down.
The demolition coordinator said an asbestos abatement is already done and he’s waiting on the property owner to give him the all clear to knock it down.
He says he’s been told it will serve as a mixed use area, which will fit in with the Renew Arlington Redevelopment Plan, which calls for markets, antiques shops, restaurants, art galleries, or professional offices with residential space built in above them.
Carlucci says he’s sad to see the historic spot come down, but excited to see what the future will hold.
If he was in charge, he knows what the new space will be called.
“They probably aught to name the establishment The Thunderbird and just keep the name because that’s a classic,” said Carlucci.
A timeline for demolition hasn’t been announced yet.
