135 East Wall Street

On Monday, October 30, 2023, shortly before the library opened, staff at the Orlando Public Library peered out the back windows facing Wall Street to discover what was causing the loud crashing sounds.

To their surprise, the building at 135 East Wall Street was being demolished. As they watched, the east and front sides of the building were knocked down, causing the ground to shake.

In what seemed like minutes, the 1965 addition was gone, and the original structure was partially demolished.

The demolition crew made quick progress and the three story, 19,000 square foot building was reduced to rubble by mid-day.

Without skipping a beat, the crew immediately began sorting the scrap metal and loading it into the huge trailer owned by Trademark Metal Recycling.

Once the main structure was removed, the operator of the CAT 350 Excavator began removing the foundation. Mounds of dirt delivered to the site can be seen in the background.

Three weeks after demolition began, the job was done. It is amazing that the CAT Excavator and the CAT Dozer are the only two pieces of equipment used to take down the entire building and complete the job.

Peruse additional photos and short videos of the demolition captured by library staff under Image and Videos at the end of this post.

Future Construction

The permit for the demolition was approved on October 23rd. In an article published in the Orlando Sentinel on October 24, 2023, Laura Kinsler stated that the “Orthodox Church recently received a demolition permit from the city to raze the office building” to make way for a 305-foot tower with 364 residential units, a hotel, and commercial space to be built on the site at 170 Washington Street and the Wall Street property.

Early History

The property at 135 Wall Street was part of 200-acres purchased by Jacob Summerlin the “Cattle King of Florida” in 1873. It included the sinkhole lake Orlandoans called Sandy Beach later named Lake Eola. He constructed The Summerlin Hotel on the property and, in 1883, the Summerlin family donated a strip of the land around the lake for public use.

Wall Street was once called Summerlin Place due to the location of the Summerlin Hotel on the block bounded by Main Street (Magnolia Avenue), Washington Street, and Summerlin Place. The legal description of the property at 135 Wall Street helps track buyers and sellers of the property through the years.

Property Legal Description 135-137 Wall Street

Beginning at an iron stake in the Northern line of Wall Street, 181 feet West from its intersection with the Platted West Right-of-Way line of Rosalind Avenue, said iron stake being the  Southeast corner of Lot 1, Block B, Grannis and Sperry’s Addition to Orlando as per Plat recorded in Plat Book D, page 4, Public Records of Orange County, Florida; run thence in a Northern direction perpendicular to Wall Street, 104.36 feet, thence in a Western direction parallel to Wall Street, 87.89 feet, thence in a Eastern direction along the line of said Wall Street, 87.89 feet to the Point of beginning. Also, Lots 11 and 12, Block B, Grannis and Sperry’s Addition to Orlando, as recorded in Plat Book D, page 4, Public Records of Orange County, Florida. Total Land Area: 19,634 sq. ft. – .45 acres.

The property description, above, refers to the Grannis Sperry addition to the City of Orlando dated June 17, 1905, recorded in Plat Book D, page 4. The portion of the original plat, highlighted in yellow above, shows Lots 11-12, Block B – the current location of the parking lot to the west of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church on Wall Street – and the section of Lot 1 – shown to the left of Lot 12 in the plat map which was the former location of the office building at 135 Wall Street. The plat map also shows that the land was not divided by Rosalind Avenue that time.

1925-1929

On November 22, 1925, Orange County native Eva Sphaler and Charles Mayer of Cincinatti, Ohio, executed a 99 year lease with “the privilege to purchase” the Summerlin Hotel property situated on Lot one, Block “B” of Grannis’ and Sperry’s Addition to the City of Orlando (outlined in red below).

The agreement with Mayer appears to have failed, as the Sphalers retrained ownership of the property and, on January 17, 1929, Eva and D. B. Sphaler sold the property to Scarlett Elizabeth Akers (nee Fudge) of Apopka (wife of Dr. Ernest F. Akers).

Ten weeks later, on March 28, 1929, Scarlett Akers and E. F. Akers sold the property to two couples: J. M. Norwood and Loula C. Norwood (nee Welborne), his wife of Orange County and C. H. Chamblee and Nannie Chamblee (nee Santelle), his wife of Wake County, North Carolina. It is not known how these two couples knew each other as they do not appear to be related but marriage and census records indicate all were born in North Carolina.

The property description in the agreement states that the Akers retained a 60 x 90 sq. ft. tract outlined in green on the 1905 plat map above and on the 1919 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map below. The outlines are approximations. The block is defined by Main (now Magnolia), Washington, Rosalind, and Summerlin (now Wall Street).

The dwelling retained by Akers and the Summerlin Hotel were also represented in a painting by James Stoll of Wall Street as it looked in 1945 (see below). Akers property is circled in green and the Summerlin Hotel in red. The painting is in the Orlando Remembered display case on the 4th floor of the Orlando Public Library.

1930-1939

According to the 1938 Orlando City Directory, p. 112, Nannie Chamblee is the manager of The Summerlin Hotel at 120 East Washington and she resides there.

1940-1949

The listing for The Summerlin in the 1940 Orlando City Directory, p. 443, shows the owner/manager as Mrs. Nannie S. Chamblee (widow Clarence). The 1940 U.S. Federal Census states that Nannie Chamblee is 58, resides at 120 East Washington and is a “partner, rooming house,” referencing the joint ownership of the property with Loula and J.M. Norwood.

On May 14, 1941, Loula Norwood, now a widow, conveyed to Nannie Chamblee two tracts of the original Summerlin Hotel property; the Second Tract being the eventual location of the building at 135 Wall Street shown in orange below. In a separate agreement, Nannie Chamblee conveyed a tract fronting on Washington to Loula Norwood, shown in blue below.

The 1943 Orlando City Directory, p. 98, shows Nannie Chamblee living at 135 Wall with “furnished rooms” available for rent. The 1945 Florida State census does not give any additional information. It shows Nannie S. Chamblee, age 62, high school graduate, housewife residing at 135 Wall Street, but Nannie’s husband died five years earlier. The 1946-1948 Orlando City Directories show Mrs. Nannie Chamblee, furnished rooms, 135 Wall.

On June 12, 1948, Nannie Chamblee sold the property to Waldo and Mary Auger. The 1949 Orlando City Directory, p. 155, identifies Waldo Auger as a building contractor.

The property listing for 135 Wall on the Orange County Property Appraiser’s site shows the present building was constructed in 1945; however, city directory entries don’t necessarily reflect this. It is unclear if the structure in the 1965 photos is Nannie Chambers boarding house or if it was constructed after the sale of the property to the Augers in 1949.

1950-1959

The 1950 U.S. Federal Census indicates that the Augers continued to operate the boarding house. Waldo Auger’s occupation is listed as “Manager – Guest House,” and there are 10 lodgers residing at 135 Wall in addition to the Augers. City directory entries from 1951-1954 list Auger’s occupation as a building contractor and do not mention the boarding house.

On October 12, 1954, Waldo and Mary Auger sold the property to M. V. & W., Inc., more commonly known as the law firm of Maguire, Voorhis and Wells.

The 1955 Orlando City Directory, p. 449, shows the firm at 135 Wall Street with members, Raymer F. Maguire, Harry M. Voorhis, Maxwell W. Wells, Joel R. Wells, Walter H. Poe and associates Roe H. Wilkins, Raymer F. Maguire, Jr., Joel R. Wells, Jr., Cecil H. Brown and Alton G. Pitts. The firm continued to grow and remained at that location for 25 years.

1960-1969

Building plans and an application for a permit were submitted to the Orlando Building Department on January 4, 1965. The building was renovated and enlarged at a cost of $90,000 – that’s about $885,000 in today’s dollars!

The architect for the project is A. Gilbert McCree and W. A. McCree Construction Company is listed as the builder. Gilbert McCree, formerly with James Gamble Rogers, Lovelock and Fritz, left the firm to join the family business as architect and vice president. See building plans under Documents, below.

The Albertson Public Library was torn down in 1964 to make way for the new Orlando Public Library. By chance, a few of the photos documenting the construction of the new library captured the Maguire, Voorhis and Wells building at 135 Wall Street – before and during the construction of the addition.

The photo above from November 3, 1964, captured the building prior to commencement of construction. Notice the second-floor access on the right or east side of the building and the architectural trim on the façade that is mimicked in the structure over the front door.

This first floor plan (above) clearly shows the new addition on the front (bottom), east side (right) and on the northwest side (top left) of the existing building. It shows the existing law library on the northeast side and the new library on the northwest side. You can also see the new new brick planter on the bottom right. View additional building plans under Documents, below.

In the photo from March 1, 1965, (above) the foundation and roof for the new addition can be seen with the former front windows in the background. To the right, you can see that the addition also extends down the east side of the building, enclosing the former 2nd floor access.

See Images, Documents and Videos, below.

1970-1979

In 1975, the Orthodox Deanery of Florida, Inc., purchased the First Church Christ Scientist church at the corner of Wall Street and Rosalind Avenue. It became the St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church with Very Reverend Father John E. Hamatie as the pastor.

The law firm of Maguire, Voorhis and Wells sold their offices at 135 Wall Street on November 15, 1979, to Limarin II, Inc., a Dutch corporation with offices in Winter Park. Based on information found in Orlando City and telephone directories, the law firm vacated the Wall Street offices between 1980 and 1981.

1980-1989

The photograph of the building, below, is part of a larger image taken during the expansion of the Orlando Public Library in 1985. The view is from Rosalind Avenue looking northwest with St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in the bottom right corner.

Based on the construction for the expansion in 1965, it appears that the white portion of the roof plus the section on the northeast side (upper right) behind it, is likely the footprint of the original building.

1990-1999

Lennar Florida transferred ownership of the property at 135 Wall Street to the Orthodox Deanery of Florida, Inc., on June 29, 1995, and it became part of the campus of St. George Antiochian Church.

2000-2023

The Very Reverend Father John E. Hamatie has been the pastor of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church for almost 50 years. In a recent conversation with Father Hamatie, he said that at one time, the building at 135 Wall Street housed Lucent Technologies exchange equipment.

The building was damaged in 2004 when, in the span of six weeks, four hurricanes passed through Central Florida. The damages sustained from the hurricanes were repaired.

Both Indian Orthodox and Western Rite Orthodox church services were conducted on the church property at one time.

In 2007, Father Hamatie and the pastors of First United Methodist Church of Orlando, Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Luke, St. James Catholic Cathedral and Trinity Lutheran Church in downtown Orlando, came together in an effort to create a drop-in center for the homeless in Orlando, using the building at 135-137 Wall Street.

“Plans had called for a day lounge where the homeless could sleep, mental-health and addiction counselors, housing-assistance agents, food, showers, laundry facilities, a place to check voicemail and e-mail and case managers who would help people find jobs and connect to other social services.” Orlando Sentinel, Dec. 5, 2009, p. B1.

Unfortunately, funding for the remodeling of the building and operation was not forthcoming, so Father Hamatie and his congregation decided they would proceed at a smaller scale to help their brothers and sisters in need.

In 2009, Father Hamatie in conjunction with the Ephraim Project, established the weekly feeding in the church parking lot of between 150 and 200 people every Friday afternoon. The feeding location was later moved to a site on Orange Blossom Trail.

At present, it has not been determined what will be built on the property at 135-137 Wall Street.

More to come….. Check out our research so far.