San Juan Hotel

San Juan Hotel and Beacham Theatre in Orlando, Florida circa 1923.

The Old San Juan Hotel was built in 1885 at a cost of $150,000 by C.E Pierce. The hotel was located in Orlando, Florida on the corner of Orange Avenue and Central Avenue. Harry Beeman of Beeman Chewing Gum purchased the hotel in 1889 and added two additional stories.[1] The second floor was a favorite spot to view hangings at the Orange County Jail. In the spring of 1922 the Turner Construction Company constructed an eight-story addition to the north of the 1885 5-story wing right next to the Beacham Theatre. The San Juan hotel addition included restaurants, a barber shop, a laundromat, a pharmacy, as well as an office for Braxton Beacham. The hotel first suffered hard times in the 1960s, and on September 7 1975 The San Juan Hotel closed. But the 1976 It was opened again by a businessman but it didn't have enough clientele to stay open so it closed again in 1977. In October 1978 The San Juan reopened as the Grand Central Hotel, a hotel for gay clientele. But turns The San Juan was planning to be demolished holes were cut in the upper floors in preparation for demolition. But around 5 or 6 AM on the morning of January 2 1979 The top 3 stories of the 1885 5-story wing were on fire, There was a water leak which flooded down into the shops on the 1st floor as well, The 1922 8-story wing suffered only smoke and water damage. It is unknown to this day what started the fire. The San Juan Hotel was demolished on July 16 1980. The Orlando Historic Preservation Board were powerless to save it. On October 1980, the Orlando Historic Preservation board created the Downtown Orlando Historic District.

Tunnels connected the Beacham Theatre to the addition to the San Juan and Angebilt Hotels.

References

  1. ↑ "Florida Stories: Hotels: Page:4 San Juan". cfmemory.org. Central Florida Memory. Retrieved September 7, 2016. One of Orlando's oldest hotels, the San Juan, was a fixture in the city for over 80 years. Built in 1885 by C.E. Pierce at a cost of $150,000, the San Juan Hotel was located on the corner of Orange and Central Avenues. In 1893, Harry Beeman of Beeman Chewing Gum bought the San Juan Hotel and added two stories to the existing three story building. As its size increased, so did the hotel’s popularity as Orlando's premier destination for visitors and residents alike. During the 1920s, the San Juan Hotel was modernized as restaurants, a barbershop, a laundry mat,
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