Sunday, July 7, 2013

Fort Lauderdale in the news - 1964

Kenann Building
By Jane Feehan


Below are Fort Lauderdale news tidbits from 1964 ...

Sky Harbor East  -The first high-rise condominium in southeast Fort Lauderdale opens adjacent to Port Everglades. The second co-op building, Breakwater Towers, opens nearby.

Jim Bouton, a New York Yankee, signs a contract for $18,000 in Fort Lauderdale  March 12 after being threatened with a $100-a-day-fine. He was the league’s first contract holdout in 25 years. Bouton had the league’s best earned-run average that year. He had demanded $20,000, a 100 percent increase in salary over the prior year. Mickey Mantle signed a $100,000 in 1964.

Kenann Building – Ken Burnstine opens the seven-story round building designed by architect Louis Wolff. Named for Ken and wife Ann, the Kenann Building remains a landmark at the corner of Oakland Park Boulevard and Federal Highway.

Hurricane Cleo, Aug. 26 – The storm moves north from Miami and hits Fort Lauderdale as a Category 2 hurricane. It was the only day the Fort Lauderdale News was not published.

Hugh Taylor Birch State Park – More people (about 500,000) visited this Florida park than any other in the state in 1964.

Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater – The Fort Lauderdale News endorses the senator for president of the United States.

Commercial Boulevard Bridge – After protest by some in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, the $1 million bridge opens Oct. 16.

Brian Piccolo –Fort Lauderdale resident and Wake Forest football team full back named by the Associated Press as back of the week. Piccolo was 20 years old.

College Students – More than 15,000 students spend spring  break on Fort Lauderdale’s beach. (This number seems low for those who were there).



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