Short lived Winterhurst leaves Fort Lauderdale ice hockey legacy

 

Photo by Duckhunter6424, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

By Jane Feehan

Winterhurst, Fort Lauderdale’s first ice rink had a short run in the mid-1960s. Its most enduring legacy, perhaps, was interest in the feasibility of Florida ice hockey.

Ohioans Doris and John Nolan announced in September 1962 that ground was to be broken for an ice skating facility at 2829 North Federal Highway (today site of a Tesla showroom and service center). They brought 12 years of experience operating ice rinks in their home state and had raised $575,000 for their Fort Lauderdale project.

The 16,000-sf space would house an 85 ft by 185 ft ice rink with seating for about 800. A snack bar, lockers, rental skates, blade sharpening and sports shop to sell skates would also be available. A lot went into construction of that ice rink: 10 miles of pipe encased in concrete and 120 tons of refrigeration. Sepper Construction built the facility with a standard size ice hockey rink, and refrigeration experts Ahrendt Engineering oversaw rink construction.

It seemed like a good idea. The Viking, an ice-skating arena/restaurant and cocktail lounge had opened with some fanfare that summer in Dania Beach with Don Granger as president. The Nolan’s project had the support of Fort Lauderdale Mayor Cy Young who was enthusiastic about adding to Fort Lauderdale’s tourist attractions.

Winterhurst opened February 8, 1963. An opening attraction, the Zamboni, “a mechanical marvel,” cleared and polished skating surfaces (versions still operate today). Weekly advertisements for the rink announced a seven-day morning and night schedule for individual skating and figure skating clubs.  

By October that year, sponsors such as Cars-A-Popin and Anaconda Realty rallied to organize the South Florida Hockey Association; it was headed by Steve Craig. The association introduced their teams (based on age divisions), players and the sport to Fort Lauderdale on October 28, 1963—the first competitive ice hockey game in Fort Lauderdale. (Ice hockey was already a thing in Miami by the early 1960s.) 

Winterhurst hockey tickets, according to advertisements, were a $1.10, including tax. The association organizers hoped to see a “full-fledged professional hockey league” in South Florida. They also envisioned Fort Lauderdale as “one of the world’s sports centers.”  

Whether spurred by the high cost of operating or low attendance, the Nolans began transitioning Winterhurst to a teen dance center in 1965. They wanted to take a couple of months off to melt the ice and open the doors to teens for part of the year.  Fort Lauderdale teacher David McKinley partnered with the Ohio couple to oversee a place for local kids to go. Winterhurst could host as many as 3,000 dancing teens and already had a powerful sound system.

By June 1965, the place was opened to large teen dances, a hootenanny with square dancing and pool tables (a note from parents was required to play) and pinball machines. The arena was also the site for band auditions and charity flea market sales. The first dance drew 500 teens; about 1,350 attended the second dance. Competition may have come from the Armory where teen dances had been held for three years by 1965. There were also teen dances at the War Memorial Auditorium during those years.

Winterhurst patrons were locked out in October 1965 by the building’s landlord. (Some history is missing here because first news accounts indicated the Nolans owned the building.) The couple said they had not paid rent for two months while ice melted at the rink.  Another hangout for teens, Code 1, followed the Winterhurst occupancy. The Nolans moved on to manage the Orleans Inn in Pompano.

And ice hockey? Is this a back-to-the future tale about the Florida Panthers? Not exactly. But it does point to the keen interest locals and new residents have held in the sport since the 1960s. 

The missing ingredient was money. That arrived with billionaire Wayne Huizenga. He founded the Florida Panthers in 1993 after the National Hockey League granted him an expansion franchise. 

The Florida Panthers played in Miami until 1998 until they moved to Broward County to play at the FLA live Arena in Sunrise.The Florida Panthers, still on the move, will open a training facility at the War Memorial in late 2023. Skating will be open to the public as well as restaurants and other amenities.  

A full circle tale …

 

Sources:

Photo of skates: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tubeskate.jpg (D

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 29, 1962

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 25, 1963

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 26, 1963

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 17, 1963

Fort Lauderdale News Nov. 3, 1963

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 23, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, April 3, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, June 2, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, June 11, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 15, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, July 22, 1966

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 18, 1967

https://www.flapanthersvault.com/panthers-history-highlights/

https://www.ftlwarmemorial.com/home-2023

Tags: first competitive ice hockey game in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale ice skating, Florida Panthers

Gateway Shopping Center: Fort Lauderdale's first shopping center ... would alleviate downtown traffic

2023

By Jane Feehan 

Fort Lauderdale announced its first shopping center in 1949. The Fort Lauderdale News reported that a “syndicate” of businessmen from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, joined by a local group headed by Richard Combes, purchased 20 acres at 10^th Street (today Sunrise Boulevard) and Federal Highway. It was the site of the closed Clyde Beatty Jungle Zoo, where lions had been raised in a pit.* After closing in 1945, the site had become an eyesore at the “very entrance to Fort Lauderdale.”

Gateway Shopping Center would not only replace the eyesore but was also expected to relieve traffic downtown (hard to believe given today’s downtown development and gridlock). A self-contained community was envisioned for the property, with shopping, hotel, apartments and private homes—similar to today’s pedestrian-friendly plans. 

The forward-thinking architect was Clinton Gamble and Associates, a big name in Fort Lauderdale’s mid-century development projects. An idea for basement parking in the old lion pit was mentioned in news accounts but the finished center came with surface parking for 350 cars.

Two buildings were completed and then leased by Gateway Properties (or Gateway Realty) headed by Arthur W. Dickson, president. T.R. “Bud” Starr**,  a former advertising executive from Pittsburgh was tapped as sales manager; he was a key player in naming and  launching the shopping center and Gateway Theater.  Leases for the shopping center were advertised for $100-$150 per front foot.

By 1951, the center, advertised as “Fort Lauderdale’s newest, most convenient and friendliest shopping center “ housed a collection of businesses including Kim’s Alley Bar (still there), Gateway Liquors, Carl’s Market, Melody Lane (cocktails), and Olwell Travel. Another building of 15,688 sf was added in 1958. Between 1951-1959, Gateway businesses included:

• Carrie Cain Young fashions
• Gateway Dress Shop
• Gateway Natural Foods
• Gateway Toy and Hobby
• Gateway Men’s Wear
• Gateway Marine and Tackle
• Georgette Vermont Dressmaking Salon
• Kingham’s Perfumes
• O'Brien Hardware
• Shoe Box
• Smith’s Drugstores (formerly on Las Olas)

Food Fair eventually replaced Carl’s Market and left before 1980. Shopping centers in Fort Lauderdale (and across the nation) sprang up during the l950s and especially the 1960s. The Sunrise Shopping Center (later the Galleria) opened in 1954, a few blocks from Gateway. As the city grew so did problems for the Gateway Shopping Center. It never seemed to lose customers, just its luster. Headlines turned negative in 1979 and 1980.

Two firebombs were thrown at Top Banana, a headshop, in 1979—allegedly by a competitor. In 1980, 18-year-old Texas native Jeanette Rogers was found strangled in a Gateway Shopping Center utility room. In 1982, a “gushing gas leak” near Gateway prompted the evacuation of 1,500 people in the center and throughout its surrounds. A paving company working on the Middle River Bridge hit an unmarked pipe below Gateway. A cloud of gas could be seen rising above the center. No one was injured in the hours-long incident.

Also affecting the center was traffic, the very thing it was once lauded for alleviating. Additionally, Gateway was owned by six to 11 absentee landlords over the years. The center needed a facelift, and it was difficult to get approvals and payment for renovations. One solution was the formation of the Victoria Park Merchants Association who assumed management of the Gateway Shopping Center during the late 1990s or early in 2000 (a current merchant said it’s now the Gateway Merchants Association).

Over the decades, merchants have come and gone such as Nathan’s Game Room, Clothes Encounters, Animal House Pet Supplies, Sukhothai (closed in 2015), and Tipico Café, which closed during the fall of 2022 because of a steep rent increase. Some have left because of personal circumstances, or failing business, but in most cases tenants left when faced with extreme rent increases. A whopping rent increase also prompted Monster Subs’ exit after a nearly 20-year run. Popular vintage shop Jezebel left early 2023. 

Native Realty, a new owner of part or all of the center (status unclear by request) came in during the fall of 2022 and raised rents. Some merchants remain in limbo because not much has been shared with them about ownership changes..

One merchant in limbo is Joseph Aminov, owner of the Shoe Doctor & Leather Spa at Gateway (BestShoeDoctor.com). Aminov came to New York City in 1989 from the Soviet Union (now Russia) with two suitcases and a family trade he elevated to  artisan’s craft with what he learned in Italy—custom leatherworks and shoe repair.

“I had 16 stores in New York,” said Aminov about his 22 years of entrepreneurship in the Big Apple.

He and family moved to South Florida in 2011 where he’s grown his business—and reputation—at Gateway Shopping Center with his craftsmanship (I‘m one of his many happy customers). Aminov is enterprising. He'd like to buy commercial property. The Shoe Doctor space is currently on a month-to-month lease because of potential landlord changes. Aminov recently tried to buy the section of Gateway his store operates in but the landlord backed out of the deal. The leather craftsman leases two other spaces, one with a 15-year term...but no storefront.

Uncertainty and rents increased during the summer of 2022 when Native Realty arrived. They reportedly represent a new buyer or are possibly the new owner of a section of Gateway. The realty company opened an office in the southwest corner of the center and claims to be owner of some of the space, including that of the Jezebel shop.

Shoe Doctor interior and
 collection of leather 

“Rents in the center have gone up about 40 percent,” said Aminov and “people are mad.”

As of April 24, 2023, one space left for lease by Native Realty: “2,400 sq. ft for $45/per SF/YR.”***

Meanwhile, let’s hope Gateway Shopping Center doesn’t fall to developers. That doesn’t seem imminent, but if  it does, they may have to get approval from residents of Victoria Park first. Stop by, parking is free and easy ... and merchants are there to please.

Additional photos below.

 *For more on the lions and Clyde Beatty’s zoo, see: https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2020/09/fort-lauderdales-lion-breeding-pit.html

 **For more on Gateway Theater and Bud Starr, see:

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2020/09/historic-gateway-theater-continues-to.html

 ***For available space details, see:  https://www.commercialsearch.com/commercial-property/us/fl/fort-lauderdale/gateway-shopping-center-1/

Below: some sections getting flashy new paint and murals; others remain the same. The Tipico sign remains but a new restaurant will soon open at the site.

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 30, 1948

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 29, 1949

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 26, 1949

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 15, 1951

Fort Lauderdale News, June 24, 1959

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 3, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, March 7, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 9, 1982

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 31, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, May 22, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, July 13, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 26, 1982

Fort Lauderdale News, July 29, 2000

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 16, 2022

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Oct. 26, 2022

 Tags: Fort Lauderdale shopping centers, Fort Lauderdale history, Gateway Shopping Center

Seaweed, a frequent Florida visitor (only more of it these days)

Ernie Settembre with
seaweed catch
 1948/State Archives
of Florida

By Jane Feehan

South Florida beachgoers climb over smelly seaweed clumps during summer 

months as they look for a spot to sit. Swimmers may have to maneuver around this annoying plant, a form of algae. Long-time residents know this is a seasonal occurrence. A mix of history with a pinch of science may frame the April 2023 media hype about it (it’s always the worst ever, right?).

Seaweed is called sargassum because it’s usually produced in the Sargasso Sea, a body of water—an area not bordered by any land—within the Atlantic Ocean south of Bermuda to the equator. Sargassum is composed of 50 percent nitrogen, 20 percent phosphorous and a mix of iodine, calcium, magnesium, iron, sodium and other minerals. This algae can support sea urchins (an animal, class Echinoidea), tiny shrimp and other small animals; it can be perilous for larger animals who may get tangled up in its mass. 

The bloom of 2023* may be the largest ever with a 5,000-mile-wide patchwork of clumps (not a blanket). According to Harvard University the last record was set in 2018. The BBC (British Broadcasting) said 2020 set a record. 

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration claimed 2011 was the turning point for the preponderance and rate of growth of these algae blooms because of climate change (sigh). Sargassum or seaweed, a rootless, stemless, leafless mass, has washed up on Florida beaches via high winds and rough seas for thousands of years. Some scientists say today’s rate of growth—a mass can double its size in 10 days—is tied to pollution. Nitrate fertilizers, human waste or sewage and industrial waste run into the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River and into the Atlantic Ocean from the Amazon River, fueling such growth.

Seaweed troubles have claimed SOFLA headlines for decades. In 1953, long-time residents said the nuisance was the worst they had seen in years. “We’re up to our necks in seaweed,” read one news account about the problem in Hollywood. An estimated 1,000 tons had washed ashore. Work gangs in Deerfield Beach cleared the mess up daily one summer. 

The solution, a limited one, was to bury seaweed at the beach but it takes two years to decompose. Newspaper gardening columns promoted the use of seaweed as fertilizer after washing away the salt water, then letting it dry and decompose, a long process. Others claimed it would be a good source of food. It proved not to be – not enough protein.

The city of Fort Lauderdale devised a solution during the late 1950s. The maintenance crew of what's now known as the Public Works Department hooked up a tractor to a hopper. People came from all over to see the seaweed remover. Fort Lauderdale was the “only place in the world with such a machine.” Removal was a tricky process. If the seaweed got too dry, they’d pick up too much sand.

Photos from the Fort Lauderdale News in 1976  showed a seaweed inundation stretching from the water's edge at the beach to State Road A-1-A. Another significant event occurred in 1981. In November that year, extraordinarily high winds and seas during a king tide scooped both sand and seaweed off the beach to the west side of A-1-A near Sunrise Boulevard. The road was impassable for a brief time (yes, a flooding beach road in 1981!).

Seaweed was so bad in 1991 that Florida Power and Light shut down two of its power plants (Crystal River and Vero) after sargassum clogged cooling systems.

Sargassum season runs from about March through October. Meanwhile, I have a call into the city of Fort Lauderdale to find out what machine they now use to clean the beach and where they dump the stuff these days. I may get a faster response from a lifeguard.

*July 4, 2023 Sun-Sentinel update: the super-sized  record breaking field of seaweed bloom has diminished by 75 percent. So is the news about it.

Sources:

American Scientist, Vol. 101, No. 6, Nov-Dec 2013

Fort Lauderdale News, June 13, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, June 14, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, April 24, 1962

Fort Lauderdale News, June 24, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 1, 1970

Fort Lauderdale News, April 12, 1970

Fort Lauderdale News, April 27, 1970

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 13, 1976

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 15, 1981

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Aug. 15, 1991

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, April 6, 2023

 Tags: Florida seaweed, history of Fort Lauderdale, Broward County history

Broward County and Fort Lauderdale traffic congestion: it's elementary in a vertical city

Galt Mile - Fort Lauderdale 2020

 

By Jane Feehan

South Florida traffic issues have commanded headlines for decades, offering little more than hope that roads will catch up to population.

During the 1950s the worst traffic jam in Florida was reported to be the bridge over Fort Lauderdale's New River at U.S. Highway 1, where it took 45 minutes to cross. The Henry E. Kinney Tunnel opened in 1960, helping to ease the traffic problem. That year Broward County’s population was counted at about 343,000, up from 83,000 residents in 1950.

Traffic was abysmal in 1979, the decade that many high-rises were built (and recession followed). East-west routes were inadequate (and still are in most areas). There were 793,074 registered vehicles in Broward County that year with a census of 986,000 residents. Commissioner Anne Kolb said, “Broward County roads are terrible.” She was right way back in 1979. Parts of A-1-A in Pompano then were already at 140 percent capacity, and that was only one example of the traffic problems.

Mega hotels & condos
Fort Lauderdale Beach 2021

Expectations pointed to about one million Broward County residents by 2000. That estimate was wrong. According to the U.S. Census, 1.6 million lived in Broward that year. In 2022, the population jumped to nearly 1,984,000 residents with 1.623 million auto vehicle registrations, according to  Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. (Broward County reported 1.9 million registered vehicles but probably included all vehicles, including mobile homes and vessels.)

Downtown Fort Lauderdale is booming with one project after another getting a green light from the Fort Lauderdale commission. A reported 40 projects to include 16,000 condos and apartments were in the pipeline in July 2022. New projects are announced each month—sometimes weekly. It’s already a problem getting emergency responders through downtown. Fort Lauderdale is now a vertical city. And, residents are leaving downtown as fast as they can. Quality of life issues, I’m told.

A Broward County 30-year one-penny sales tax passed a vote in 2018 and is expected to raise $16 billion for transportation projects, including rapid transit options. 

Miami-Dade passed a half-penny tax in 2002 for transportation improvements. Let’s hope Broward County’s one-penny tax is better directed. Miami-Dade’s tax has been diverted to maintenance and operations and special projects. “A lot of the transportation promises of two decades ago have not been fulfilled,” reported WLRN.

As with California, it’s doubtful Florida drivers in this big state will be using mass transit. The problems (and additional expense) always seem to be getting riders from rail stops to final locations. There is no synchronization of north-south initiatives with east-west follow-through.

And “rising seas?” When are engineers and government officials going to get brave enough to admit that developing mega hotels and mega condos on nearly every square inch of Broward County affects water runoff and adds to flooding problems? And of course, traffic is worse than ever (visualize evacuating in an EV when a hurricane threatens or returning in one when there's no electricity).  As Sherlock Holmes used to say, “It’s elementary, my dear Watson.”

 

Downtown Fort Lauderdale 2022: the vertical city

Other Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 7, 1979

Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

The Real Deal, July 1, 2022

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 28, 2023

Broward County (Broward.org)

 

Tags: Broward County traffic problems, Broward County history, Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale traffic, Fort Lauderdale downtown, downtown Fort Lauderdale

Paddle Wheel Queen: a 30-year voyage with an unhappy ending

Paddle Wheel Queen
State Archives of Florida/ Florida Memory

By Jane Feehan

The Paddle Wheel Queen entertained five million visitors in its 30-year history in Fort Lauderdale. The vessel many are familiar with is the Paddle Wheel Queen II. The original boat operated from West Palm Beach beginning in 1942 and was captained by Lucille Colyer.

 Bruce Colyer, Lucille’s son, had the second Paddle Wheel Queen, also a Mississippi river replica, built in Dubuque, Iowa. He launched the 128-foot, three-deck Paddle Wheel Queen II in Fort Lauderdale in March 1965. It proved to be a popular 400-passenger entertainment venue that locals and area visitors equally enjoyed.

The boat sailed out of its dock south of the Oakland Park Boulevard bridge for two- or four-hour cruises and special events. A tour took passengers along the “modestly rich homes” along the Intracoastal in central Fort Lauderdale, Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, Bahia Mar, Port Everglades and to the once undeveloped area south of the port. With the  only charcoal galley of its kind, the Paddle Wheel Queen served  steak dinners that garnered favorable newspaper restaurant reviews (and an A+ from me). Meal prices started early in its history at about $9 and topped out by the time paddles stopped turning at around $12. Early fares for the trips were less than $10.

Colyer retired about 1989 and stopped operating the same year.  Lonnie Reeder and David Boyd bought the Paddle Wheel Queen II in 1992, remodeled and relaunched the business with blackjack bingo. The future looked promising. In December the same year, the boat was tapped the “Official Winterfest Boat” for the annual—and high-profile—Winterfest Boat Parade. Disney World dispatched Mickey and Minnie Mouse to take seats of honor on the riverboat.

Instead of a bright future, financial turmoil ensued. The business pulled up its gangplank May 31,1994 and sailed off to the Bayside Market Place in Miami for a brief “port” stop. It returned to Fort Lauderdale shortly after. The owners went $1.4 million into arrears and the Paddle Wheel Queen II was seized in March 1995 leaving ticket holders angered. The story ended in irony. Jerry Faber, president of Jungle Queen, a competing Fort Lauderdale tour boat that still operates today, assuaged ticket holders with a free ride (until a possible settlement) on his riverboat.

 

Sources

Fort Lauderdale News, July 2, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 11, 1972

Fort Lauderdale News, May 21, 1974

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 24, 1978

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, July 8, 1991

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Sept. 30, 1992

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Dec. 16, 1992

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, April 1, 1994

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, March 28, 1995

Tags: Fort Lauderdale history,Fort Lauderdale tourist attractions, Fort Lauderdale in the 1960s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1990s

Fort Lauderdale and national news stories of 1966 not so different from today's

 

Sunrise Professional Building 1966
State of Florida Archives/Erickson, Roy

Local and national front-page and section news in 1966 was dominated by the Vietnam conflict. Other news of that year often defined what many of us remember of the decade. Stories from the Fort Lauderdale News include a few national topics that draw parallels to those of 2020-2023. If the headline didn’t offer sufficient details, context or additional information was inserted.

* Social Security taxes rise, but cuts in other areas save about a third

* Fashion watchers predict 1966 will be the year of the “Press Up Bosom” in women’s clothing, i.e., spillage (a few Fort Lauderdale Mai Kai staffers will remember using socks to acquire that look).

* Florida Attorney General Earl Faircloth, a Fort Lauderdale resident, to seek re-election

* High grocery costs blamed on the war (Vietnam). Labor shortages and labor costs also a problem. Beef and bacon prices particularly high.

* Denver-based food chain agrees to lower prices after members of Housewives for Lower Prices (HLFP) threaten boycott. Other stores ramp up grocery specials and discounts to avoid boycotts. (Where are they now?)

* Department of Defense defends not calling the Vietnam conflict a war. To declare it a war would add a new psychological element to the international situation since war in this century’s declarations of war have come to imply dedication to the total destruction of the many.

* 18,000 additional troops to be sent to Vietnam in July, bringing total to about 285,000 men.

* Severe cold temperatures to hit Fort Lauderdale; expect a dip into the 30s as “one of the worst winter onslaughts of the century” hits parts of the nation.

* Winn Dixie Kwik Chek reminds people in an advertisement about their “Man in the Red Coat” who is happy to advise on cooking problems (he’s in the meat section).

* Merger of Mackey Airlines and Eastern Airlines approved (Mackey was based at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport at the  time).

* Sing Out 66 comes to War Memorial with a cast of 130. Sponsored by Moral Rearmament (a spiritual group).

* Boy Scout Jamboree brings 1,500 scouts to Holiday Park for two-night sleep over.

* Fort Lauderdale building permits down from previous year

* Developer James S. Hunt, 67, taps Joe Taravella, 44, as new president of his company, Coral Ridge Properties, so Hunt can focus on additional land acquisitions. (Hunt died when he was 74)

* Pool closed at Swimming Hall of Fame “pier” because of permitting issues related to safety

* Traffic backed up from 17^th Street bridge to beach due to electrical problem (bridge switches out)

* Heavy rainstorm (April) causes deluge of traffic accidents; worse around Fiesta Way and E. Las Olas Boulevard where there was a drag race.

* Artificial heart may be ready for use in one month, says surgeon Dr. Michael E. DeBakey from Tulane University in New Orleans.

* Tour plan combining air and see routes to link Port Everglades, New York and Europe.

* Private schools praised; will stay viable if able to rekindle public’s interest

* Broward teacher shortage looms

* Five Florida State Attorney candidates don’t know what the job pays

* Nation’s city riots blamed on wretched life

* Upsurge in U.S. crime puzzles Europeans

* $2 bill to face end alone

* Space chief sees 1968 as year of a moon landing

* National debt reaches nearly $330 billion

* Mickey Rooney takes sixth wife (they lived in Fort Lauderdale for awhile)

* One of largest bookmaking operations ($6000 a day) in Broward shut down in Fort Lauderdale at SW 52 Street.

* Early (Oct 15^th) winter storm brings high winds and flooding to U.S. West and Midwest. Temps in Denver 2 degrees below record.

* Loopholes and the land boom: Florida in its second land boom of the century; evolved since the 1950s (first boom 1910-1926)

* Claude Kirk to campaign in Fort Lauderdale (October)

* Three newspapers endorse Robert High for governor, all critical of Kirk (who later served as governor for one term)

* Beautification group forms to improve run down look of Wilton Manors

* 1966 – 5 – 0 year of the Gator (U of F)  

* Porky’s Hideaway sues (Wilma Baines, wife of Porky, filed the suit)  to restore closing hours to 4 am. Porky’s paid Oakland Park $1000 since its 1957 opening to be able to serve until 4 am.

* Judge Richard M. Sauls replies to Porky’s: “Selling booze is not a right.”

* Old Fort Lauderdale High School property back on the market for $1.95 million

* Plan to build bridge over Middle River in Fort Lauderdale at 19^th and 21^st streets nixed

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, 1966:

Jan. 2, 1966

Jan.30, 1966

Feb. 6, 1966

March 3, 1966

April 10, 1966

April 17, 1966

May 1, 1966

June 12, 1966

July 10, 1966

Aug. 17, 1966

Sept. 11, 1966

Oct. 16, 1966

Nov. 16, 1966

Dec. 15, 1966

Tags: Fort Lauderdale in the 1960s, Fort Lauderdale history

Actor Mickey Rourke debuts professional boxing career in Fort Lauderdale

 

Rourke (R), 1991
State Archives of Florida

By Jane Feehan

Among highly publicized events at Fort Lauderdale’s War Memorial Auditorium during its decades-old history was actor Mickey Rourke’s professional boxing debut in 1991. 

In March 1991 Sal Cherch, an entrepreneur and boxing promoter from Lauderhill, spotted Rourke at the Fifth Street Gym in Miami Beach and asked him if he’d like to participate in a match two months later. Rourke, already a well-known actor (and nearly an icon in France) agreed. He had chalked up a number of amateur fights during the 1970s and continued to train, sometimes at the Miami Beach gym. Cherch picked May 23 as the date because he planned to donate event profits to the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 23.

Rourke, 34, would fight part time mechanic Steve Powell, 33, from the Fort Lauderdale area. Powell, a Medfield, MA native, came to South Florida less than a decade before and opened an auto garage in Oakland Park. He was also a boxer. By 1991, he had scored four wins out of eight professional bouts. Powell had just won a match in the Bahamas and was reportedly known for a strong right jab. He was promised $300 for a four-round fight with Rourke.

Thanks to Rourke’s team, the media expected to see a roster of celebrities including Don Johnson and wife Melanie Griffith, Kim Basinger, Sylvester Stallone and Gene Hackman. About 2,400 showed up to watch Rourke, a 168-pound super middle weight, duke it out with the part-time mechanic. Of the spectators about 375 presented press credentials. The event was expected to be a Hollywood story, if not a memorable boxing match.

The celebrity list of those who actually appeared at War Memorial that night was a short one. Counted among the famous was boxing promoter-trainer Angelo Dundee, fighters Leon Spinks and Alexis Arguello, Rourke’s girlfriend actress Carre Otis (Wild Orchid) and Robert Conrad who left “in disgust” after round 3.

Rourke, booed several times, reportedly connected a few questionable jabs to the back of Powell’s head. He also lifted and pushed Powell a few times through the ropes, more befitting a wrestling match rather than a boxing bout.

The four-round fight was called in a decision (no surprise) for Rourke. Two judges scored 38-37, the third judge, 39-37. The real winner was the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 23. As promised, Cherch donated the night’s profits, $8,553 to the group a few weeks later. The match took in $45,846 and costs were assessed at $37,293.

Mickey Rourke grew up in Miami and Miami Beach and attended Nautilus Junior High and Miami Beach High before his boxing and acting days. He went on to fight several more times in other cities after the Fort Lauderdale match. His acting career has captured far more headlines than have his pugilistic pursuits.

A fan of boxing (and of Rourke), I would have attended that match had I been in town, though I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it as much as his Pope of Greenwich Village, a film favorite.

Sources:

Miami Herald, Dec. 30, 1990

Miami Herald, April 8, 1991

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, May 23, 1991

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, May 24, 1991

Miami Herald, June 9, 1991

Tags: Boxing, celebrities in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale history, history of Fort Lauderdale, Mickey Rourke, Jane Feehan

Room with a waterside view: Fort Lauderdale Beach Hospital

Fort Lauderdale Beach Hospital
circa 1960

By Jane Feehan

“Come by boat or canoe,” read an unconventional invitation to opening festivities at Fort Lauderdale Beach Hospital in July 1957. The hospital was organized in 1956 to serve older patients as well as “the chronically ill and the handicapped.”

The 64-bed, four-story facility was once the Blue Water Hotel. Some who were cared for at the hospital probably felt they were at a vacation spot. It overlooked the Intracoastal Waterway, offered an outdoor patio with covering, dockage and other amenities. Headed by Dr. Louis Amato, the waterside hospital opened with elevators, laboratory and X-ray facilities and equipment for physical therapy. According to Amato, Fort Lauderdale Beach Hospital would operate as a supplement to others in the area, not as a surgery center. Surging growth in Fort Lauderdale’s population, particularly retired residents, elevated the area’s need for additional hospital beds.   

In 1964 the Katie Lambert* Foundation purchased Fort Lauderdale Beach Hospital. It was operated by Beach Hospital Auxiliary as a nonprofit, community-supported entity. The organization added about 20 beds, expanded radiology and lab capabilities and built a new entrance and emergency room. Renovations were drawn up by William H. Crawford, tapped “Architect of the Year” by the American Hospital Association.

Meanwhile, Fort Lauderdale’s population continued to grow. So did its medical community. Doctors with diverse ambitions—and politics—eventually led Fort Lauderdale Hospital in a different direction. In 1969 plans to move the hospital to a new beach location materialized. The hospital transitioned to operate as the North Beach Hospital at 2835 N. Ocean Boulevard (A1A) and opened in 1973. 

Cleveland Clinic was granted permission to operate an outpatient clinic at North Beach in 1988, which paved the way for their expansion to a permanent full-scale facilty in Weston.

By the late 1980s Broward County had nearly twice as many hospital beds as needed. Hospitals entered a paradigm that continues today across the country: national corporations buying up hospitals to create hospital “systems.” So byzantine are hospital stories today with their buyouts and consolidations, etc., that their histories are best presented as tables of chronologies rather than narratives. 

North Beach closed by the mid-to late 1990s and today it’s the site of a condominium or two with an ocean and Intracoastal view. A drive past the original site at 125 Birch Road will reveal another occupant: Springbrook Gardens … a condominium.

 *Katie Lambert was a beloved auxiliary volunteer

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 5, 1956

Fort Lauderdale News, July 24, 1957

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 13, 1964

Fort Lauderdale News, April 9, 1969

Sun-Sentinel, Oct. 9, 1970

Sun-Sentinel Jan. 9, 1989

Sun-Sentinel, April 27, 1989

Sun-Sentinel, Feb. 14, 1990

Sun-Sentinel, Sept. 21, 1995

Sun-Sentinel, Dec. 20, 1997

Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, history of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale hospitals, Fort Lauderdale Beach Hospital, North Beach Hospital, architects, Jane Feehan

The day SNOW fell in South Florida

     

"Picking luscious oranges in beautiful 
Florida while you play in the
silvery snow in the north" 
Florida State Archives/Postcard Collection
circa 1900

                                   

By Jane Feehan

The first recorded snow in South Florida came to mind with our recent cold snap. The January 19, 1977 event slowly recedes from the memories of many locals while it remains an unknown to most of the state’s new residents.

The National Weather Service, for the first time since its founding in 1870, predicted “rain mixed with snow” for South Florida for that day, a Wednesday. The predicted cold front and high-pressure feature over the Mississippi Valley would drop temperatures to the mid-30s along the coast and to 30 degrees inland. Blustery weather with 25 mph winds would bring a wind chill factor of 7 degrees to some areas.

Weather experts later said the freezing level was at 1,500 feet with the ground temperature at about 40 degrees that day; it’s why the white stuff didn’t stick in Broward and Dade counties. Nevertheless, the first report of snow in Broward County came from Wilton Manors at 7:30 a.m., the time I saw it in Fort Lauderdale. The Fort Lauderdale International Airport reported snowfall from 8:30 to 9 a.m.  Snow was reported in nearly every city in Broward County.

Though no snow was reported from the Miami International Airport, reports of flurries came in from Opa-locka Airport and northern Miami Beach. One news account reported snow, farther south and west, in Homestead. Winds from the system (up to 40 mph) in the Florida Keys brought coastal flooding.  

Snow was heavier in West Palm Beach areas and in Boca Raton. Orange grove owners in Loxahatchee reported snow coming through the groves like a blizzard as wind speeds ramped up over 30 mph. An accumulation of about a half inch was reported.

Map Jan. 19, showing cold wave
affecting Florida
NOAA  - Public Domain
via Wikipedia

For some, snow accumulation brought welcome relief. Workers stayed up past midnight in Central Florida to keep pots of fire fueled to raise temperatures, a frequent cold temperature-fighting tactic among orange growers when temps dip below 32. Vegetable growers pumped warm water—about 65 degrees—through irrigation canals. Helicopters could also be used as giant fans, but things changed when the snow arrived about 1 a.m. Overnight accumulations served as a blanket and dropped from cloudy skies, which also served to warm. Some farmers in the lower part of the state were somewhat relieved, but days later, crop losses and damage throughout the state totaled about $2 billion (1977 USD).

Snow or flurry reports were met with a wide range of responses.

Palm Beach County closed all schools, mainly because buildings didn’t have heat. Some schools closed in Broward; a few teachers said they wanted students to experience the rare event. 

The Key Biscayne Hotel, south of Miami, served coffee with brandy to all guests at a lobby warming station. 

A man in Fort Pierce mounted snow skis atop his car and drove around looking for a slope (or attention). 

One K-Mart store in West Palm had mistakenly received a shipment of snow shovels and snow sleds three weeks prior but placed them on display when they heard about the approaching cold front. Only after snow was reported did some think the store’s display was not only prescient but appropriate.   

Meanwhile up in Alaska on January 18, the Anchorage Hockey Association cancelled its games because ice on their outdoor rinks had melted.

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan 19, 1977

Miami Herald, Jan. 20, 1977

Miami News, Jan. 19, 1977

Palm Beach Post, Jan. 20, 1977

Wikipedia

Tags: Fort Lauderdale snow, Snow in Miami, Fort Lauderdale history, Broward County history, Miami history

Florida HELP WANTED ads through the decades: Funny, sad, silly and dubious

By Jane Feehan

Help wanted newspapers advertisements have changed through the years because of cultural mores or legalities. Notwithstanding the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) and the 1967 Age Discrimination Act, some language in ads persisted. 

A retrospective below, spanning several decades, may raise eyebrows or evoke a laugh or two. Postings below were found in South Florida newspapers. More ads are from the help wanted female sections because there were more "requirements." Before the 1960s, help wanted female ads sections didn't exist in many newspapers. Black or white race requirements were mentioned mostly in personal or home services.

Today employers find a way to get around a direct query about age; they want to know the year graduated from high school or college. One high-profile online job board actually asks for the year born after applicant has applied for job. 

Some words of ads below are omitted.

1919

A trip far back ... to 1919. This made the front page of the newspaper as a headline: “Little Girls Not Wanted as Clerks on Railway Mail.” According to the Miami Metropolis, the story was based on a posting from the then-called Civil Service Commission:

Young women must weigh in at 110 pounds and be at least 5 feet, 2 inches tall.

Men must weigh at least 130 pounds and be at least 5 feet, 5 inches tall.

_____

1960

Help Wanted Female

Stenographer for larger financial institution. Please do not apply if you do not meet the following requirements: Age 22-30, average weight and height, typing at least 60 words per minute with few mistakes …

________

UNENCUMBERED woman with managerial capacity for late night drive-in work

_________

Help Wanted Male

Presser wanted – first class only. High wages for right man.

_________

Ages 23-40 for insurance business – no experience necessary. We pay while training.

_________

Retired man or responsible high school boy for part time kennel work.

______

1965

Help Wanted Female

Business couple, no children, requires [race mentioned] woman 35-45 for part time housework $2.00 per hour, $24/week.

_________

Photo Assistant – Bahamas. Young, attractive woman experienced in BLACK and WHITE (poster’s caps) printing. General dark room work and sales (reply address listed at Miami airport…)

_________

Woman to solicit new customers on retail egg route. 

_________

Help Wanted Male

Young man to crate marble and pack furniture. Must be intelligent.

 ______

1970

Las Olas real estate office needs young, attractive secretary with pleasant telephone voice …

_________

Are you Swedish? I miss the friendly Swedish woman who helped clean my house up North. Help needed one day a week.

_________

British ladies for work in English shops … apply at … on Sunrise Blvd.

_________

Receptionist, age 25-35, for general office work

_________

Dental Assistant: We need a capable girl to assist in all chairside duties. Prefer experience but not necessary.

_________

Help Wanted Male

Semi-retired man for phone answering and light plant work. Write, give age and background.

_________

1975

Help Wanted listed by industry

ALERT female wanted at downtown optometrist’s office.

_________

SANDY was a great girl, cheerful, neat, industrious and a good typist. She learned our business well …Unfortunately her husband was transferred up North. We are now looking for someone like her.

_____

Sources:

Miami Daily Metropolis, Feb. 15, 1919

Fort Lauderdale News, March 6, 1960

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 7, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 1, 1970

Miami News, Sept. 5, 1975

Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Miami history, labor history, help wanted ads

Broward County School lunches: then, now and WOW

FLHS 2022, a retro look

 

By Jane Feehan

Many at Fort Lauderdale High and other Broward County schools during the 1960s and 70s turned up their noses at cafeteria food. So, students often lunched at nearby burger joints. Menus have changed since then. Below are menu items from 1970 and 1974 followed by choices offered in 2022. 

1970 Lunch Items

Fish squares, tater tots, broccoli

Hot dog on a bun, hamburger on a bun (both steamed)

Egg salad sandwich with kidney bean salad and potato chips

Salisbury steak with rice

Ham and cheese sandwich

Mashed potatoes, buttered carrots, lettuce and tomato salad

Chocolate cake and ice cream

 

1974 Lunch Items

Meat Loaf

Turkey Sandwich

Sloppy Joe

Chicken Chop Suey

Baked Ham

Beef Stew

Peas, tossed salad, cabbage slaw

Applesauce, yellow cake, chocolate pudding

 

2022 Lunch Items

Cherry Blossom Chicken

Vegan Lentil Pasta

Asian Kale Chicken Salad  

Yogurt cup and cheese stick

Brown rice, wheat roll

Steamed edamame

Combo sub

Fresh Zucchini and Yellow Squash Salad

Pepperoni pizza

Pineapple tidbits or fresh fruits

Prices: As far back as I can remember, lunches were 35 cents at FLHS (different prices at some schools). Today, lunches for FLHS high school run $2.50. 

Broward County Schools now provides breakfasts with a choice of eggs, sausage, pancakes, waffles and cereals. Menus for those with allergies or other special needs are available in several languages. For all current choices for all meals, see: https://www.browardschools.com/me . Schools are presented at different tiles at this site. For the Fort Lauderdale High School menu, see: https://schools.mealviewer.com/school/FortLauderdaleHigh. Would high school students still scorn school lunches or prefer to dine off campus?  

Tags: Broward County School menus, Fort Lauderdale High School cafeteria, Fort Lauderdale history, cafeteria food, Vroward County history

No need for fish tales in early Fort Lauderdale ... only a fish count

 

Deep Sea Fishing advertisement
Florida State Archives/Florida Memory circa 1930

 

By Jane Feehan

Visitors knew before Fort Lauderdale was officially established it offered great fishing.  Fishing yarns would be exchanged in the late 1890s and early 1900s at the Stranahan Trading Post on the New River and aboard the settlement's first party houseboat, the Wanderer.* 

In 1930, the Fort Lauderdale Daily News praised the city's fishing opportunities:

People fish everywhere in Fort Lauderdale--from any of its countless bridges, from city docks in the heart of the business section, from the jetties--and with equal success, property owners of waterfront homes have been known to make record catches ... standing in their own front yards.

There were few tales about the fish that got away because they didn't. The fish count was the story.

Amidst the city's growing fishing reputation, which included the tale of a whale**, deep sea fishing charters emerged as a viable and growing business during the 1930s. Advertisements for deep sea fishing on the "Cruiser Joy" first appeared in Fort Lauderdale in 1939.  

The vessel, docked at the Andrews Avenue Bridge, was owned and operated by Captain Darcy Willis. Several hours fishing aboard a boat for $2 with bait and tackle ... a bargain even then. Willis was already known as a sports fishing guide in Morehead City, North Carolina where he won a few fishing tournaments. His name and his next boat, Joy II, also appeared in local newspapers in 1940. News acccounts track his fishing exploits from Fort Lauderdale to the Saint Lucie River. He and his fishing passengers caught kingfish, amberjack, sailfish and at one time a reporter wrote, a 322-pound sunfish. By the late 1940s it appears Willis was operating once again in Morehead City. He seems to have droppd off the Fort Lauderdale radar after that. 

Another popular charter fishing boat of that decade, the Reel Lucky, owned and operated by Captain Reuben Munroe, garnered media attention in the late 1930s with news about several large "hauls" of fish. 

From informal fishing trips to charter fishing excursions, to rodeos that drew competing anglers during the 1930s (and today), fishing in Fort Lauderdale remains a popular pastime and sport. The fish, however do not remain as plentiful, but hope for a good catch springs eternal. 

* For more on the Wanderer, see:

 https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2020/12/a-tradition-begins-fort-lauderdales.html

** For the whale tale see:

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2015/09/whaling-off-fort-lauderdale-really.html

Sources: 

News and Obsever (Raleigh), Aug. 20, 1930

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Dec. 1, 1930

Fort Lauderdale News, March 25, 1935

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, March 4, 1939

Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Feb. 22, 1940  

News and Observer, April 26, 1948

Tags: About Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale fishing, Fort Lauderdale history, History of Fort Lauderdale