 |
| Jay-Mar Cottages in Fort Lauderdale 1956 |
Jay-Mar Apartments.
515 Seabreeze Blvd.Fort Lauderdale, FL
By Jane Feehan
Jay-Mar Cottages started out as a pleasant, low-profile, no-frills seaside motel along Fort Lauderdale beach. A different image emerged during the 1960s and 70s.
Sitting on the south side of D.C. Alexander Park and extending to Seabreeze Boulevard, Jay-Mar was probably built during the early 1950s, when it was first mentioned in the Fort Lauderdale News.
In May 1954 a Baptist Church held a “covered supper” event for 34 attendees. In 1961 “Mrs. Georgia Smith, owner of Jay-Mar” was recognized for hosting her fifth-annual party for her college student guests. She fed and entertained 60-70 visitors “without incident."
But three months later, the motel became a target of mischief. Jay-Mar was hit by a women’s bathing suit thief: five suits were swiped from clotheslines there and at the nearby Merriweather Motel (still operating as of this post) at 115 N. Atlantic Avenue.
Missing bathing suits was nothing compared to what the ensuing tidal wave of visitors brought to Fort Lauderdale beach.
The movie, Where the Boys Are, was released in 1960, placing Fort Lauderdale on the national radar of places for college students to enjoy their spring bacchanalia. There wasn’t much good news for Jay-Mar Apartments (or cottages) in the decades that followed. It was besieged by college kids, as was the entire beach area. Student-hosted impromptu parties attracted crowds of underaged locals and college visitors looking to score alcohol— or more—and to meet up with like-minded friends.
Jay-Mar lost its luster as a cute motel by the beach and became a cheap place for the down and out to rent a room. By 1976 it was called an abandoned eyesore by the Fort Lauderdale Beach Advisory Board. The property then was worth about $1 million. Emmett McTigue, owner and spokesperson for the Las Olas Development Company (owners then of the property?) refused to comment on the call to demolish the building.
Jay-Mar remained standing until at least May 1976 when some complained it was a “gutted hulk.” There are no news stories about its demolishment; the name of the motel receded into memory. Instead, the beach-side parcel became the lure and lore of profitable land deals.
Missing bathing suits was nothing compared to what the ensuing tidal wave of visitors brought to Fort Lauderdale beach.
The movie, Where the Boys Are, was released in 1960, placing Fort Lauderdale on the national radar of places for college students to enjoy their spring bacchanalia. There wasn’t much good news for Jay-Mar Apartments (or cottages) in the decades that followed. It was besieged by college kids, as was the entire beach area. Student-hosted impromptu parties attracted crowds of underaged locals and college visitors looking to score alcohol— or more—and to meet up with like-minded friends.
Jay-Mar lost its luster as a cute motel by the beach and became a cheap place for the down and out to rent a room. By 1976 it was called an abandoned eyesore by the Fort Lauderdale Beach Advisory Board. The property then was worth about $1 million. Emmett McTigue, owner and spokesperson for the Las Olas Development Company (owners then of the property?) refused to comment on the call to demolish the building.
Jay-Mar remained standing until at least May 1976 when some complained it was a “gutted hulk.” There are no news stories about its demolishment; the name of the motel receded into memory. Instead, the beach-side parcel became the lure and lore of profitable land deals.
Sources:
Fort Lauderdale News, May 24,
1954
Fort Lauderdale News, April 4, 1961
Fort Lauderdale News, July 9, 1961
Fort Lauderdale News, April 13, 1976
Fort Lauderdale News, May 25, 1976
Tags: Jay-Mar Cottages, Jay-Mar Motel, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1960s. Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale Spring Break
