Name/Title
Park Lane ApartmentsEntry/Object ID
2016.019.030Description
Park Lane Apartments
1846 Margaret Street
Architect: Roy A. Benjamin
The Park Lane was Riverside's first high-rise building (16 stories) and remained Jacksonville's third tallest building for years. Built in 1926, it was originally built as co-op apartments, which the developer, Francis Mason, brought back from a trip to New York. It was a forerunner of Florida's high-rise condominiums and was the first tall building in Jacksonville to use "setback" construction, permitting the apartments on the supper stories to have open terraces and sun parlors. The building is designed in the Mediterranean Revival style and land it sits on was formally the front yard of a two-story riverfront home. Many apartments have both north and south side windows. The Park Lane cost about $800,000 to build and the original units sold for $12,000 and up.
1600 block of Riverside Ave.
Landscape Architect: Olmstead Brothers
Supervising Architect: Benjamin & Greeley
Statue Designer: C. Adrian Pillars
In 1918, the Jacksonville Rotary Club started a drive to build a memorial to commemorate those Florida citizens who died in World War I.
In 1919, the City of Jacksonville purchased the land known as the "Robinson property" for $125,000 with the understanding that the memorial would be placed there. At the urging of Mrs. Arthur Cummer (Ninah), the Olmstead Brothers, sons of architect Frederick Law Olmstead, were commissioned to design the park.
The park reflects Olmstead's theories and the Nineteenth Century Romantic style, characterized by a large central open space bordered by an oval promenade. The focal point of the park is the bronze statue that allegorically depicts "the winged figure of youth" rising victoriously above the "mad maelstrom of earthly passions."
The statue was unveiled Christmas Day, 1924.
Roy A. Benjamin supervised the construction of the park and revised the original Olmstead design to omit a floating dock which had been planned to allow access to the river behind the statue.Collection
Woodward Photo CollectionMade/Created
Studio
The Woodward Studio, Inc.Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
Photograph, Black-and-WhiteNomenclature Primary Object Term
PhotographNomenclature Sub-Class
Graphic DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication Objects