 |
|
 |
Historic Bank of Pompano and Bailey Hotel Update
Historic Bank of Pompano and Bailey Hotel - 1920's
Current condition of Bank and Hotel
History
In the early years of the 1920s the small agricultural community of Pompano, Florida, was beginning to enjoy the fruits of the Florida land boom as travelers seeking investment opportunities or the equable climate made their way south along the Dixie Highway. Two new establishments were constructed "downtown": The Bailey Hotel and the Bank of Pompano. Both were examples of the typical commercial architecture of the times, featuring Mediterranean Revival and Beaux Arts details. In September of 1924, the bank brought great notoriety to the young town when it was the scene of the last robbery of the infamous "Ashley Gang," soon to meet their fate in an ambush near Vero Beach.
Today time and neglect have brought these and other structures in Pompano's historic downtown to a sad state of disrepair. The Community Redevelopment Agency has voted to purchase the Bailey Hotel and Bank of Pompano buildings; in addition, the bank is threatened with demolition due to its identification as an unsafe structure by the Unsafe Structure Board. Despite the deteriorated condition of the bank building, the Broward Trust for Historic Preservation joins with concerned citizens of Pompano in urging the preservation and restoration of these historic properties by the City of Pompano Beach. This corner of the city will soon be a significant transportation hub once again - with a future bus transfer station and the possibility of an F.E.C. Railway commuter rail station within blocks. This is an opportunity for the city to develop their surviving historic downtown - rare amongst its sister municipalities in Broward County - into a viable, attractive, and novel commercial area.
|
|
|
|
