Dan Reiter
Article Category: Dan Reiter 9 Comments
Letter to the President of the United States
February 20, 2010
The Honorable Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
My name is Dan Reiter and I live in Cocoa Beach, Florida. We have a charming little town here, rich in history, culture, and scenery, but poor in most everything else. Once –- a half century ago –- the Mercury and Apollo missions launched from these sands to stir the hopes and dreams of the world. For a shining instant, we stood at the edge of human imagination, gazing out into a future bright and unknown. Sadly, those days have long since passed.
At the very heart of our town stands a building known as “The Glass Bank.” It is a curiosity of mid-century modern architecture with I.M. Pei-style curvatures and ranks of windows on all sides. It is a lonely monolith in the center of the city, towering high over the cabbage palms and low-lying roofs surrounding it. In its time, the top floor of the Glass Bank was home to Ramon’s Rainbow Room, where luminaries such as Gus Grissom, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Walter Cronkite sipped cocktails over the moonlit stillness of the Banana River.
In recent years, the Glass Bank, like Cocoa Beach itself, has fallen into disrepair. Hurricane Frances took out many of the windows, which remain boarded up to this day. The commercial tenants folded up shop long ago, skipped town, and the place has been abandoned now for over six years. The absentee owner of the building has allowed the façade to rot, and a thin layer of black mold festers over what stucco remains between the windows. In places, the raw steel bones of the structure show through gaping holes. This cracked and ragged edifice has become, unconsciously, the symbol of our city’s decimated property values. One look at this slouching giant is to see in material form the toll the recent recession has taken on all of us.
Our City Commissioners have tried to take measures to remedy the eyesore. Maximum fines and penalties have been levied upon the owner, who continues to amass a glut of code violations. Legal avenues have been explored as well, to no avail. Apparently, eminent domain can only be invoked when the values of the fines surpass the appraised value of the building. I am told this will come to pass in the summer of 2061, should the current pace continue. I spoke at length with the city superintendent about this issue, along with the mayor, two of our state senators, the clerk of the county court, and the proprietors of three local surf shops. The general consensus is that the best and cleanest resolution to the problem of the Glass Bank would be to bomb it into oblivion.
Therefore, I write to you now humbly requesting the use of an idle V-2 missile. If a V-2 is unavailable, similar tactical ballistic weaponry would be acceptable. If no missiles are readily obtainable for this purpose, I hope that you might allow me to propose another, less costly, alternative.
The current owner of the Glass Bank has stated that he would part with the historical building for a price of $5 million. Two years ago, the City of Cocoa Beach considered purchasing it for their city offices, fire department, and police headquarters. Contractors were called in to estimate the cost of repairs. They deemed that an additional $2 million would have to be spent to get the thing back to respectable shape. The total price tag of $7 million was only slightly out of range of the city’s budget. However, instead of trying to drum up the remaining $6.7 million, the deal was inexplicably shelved.
I would propose the following:
A Federal grant be issued to the City of Cocoa Beach to purchase and restore the historic Glass Bank building.
Green construction methods will be used in the reconstruction. Rooftop flora, solar windows, renewable materials, and the leading Florida green technologies will be implemented, and the process held up as an example to all builders as to what can be accomplished in the coming age of environmental responsibility.
The City of Cocoa Beach, upon completing the construction of the building, will relocate its own offices to the first floor, and issue 20-year leases for the remainder of the units. A focus on green construction methods, space exploration, and alternative energy research would be promoted in the selection of tenants, who would occupy the space free of charge.
The boon to the local economy would be tremendous. As you know, the Space Coast has staggered under the weight of the housing crash; massive layoffs at Boeing, United Space Alliance, Northrop Grumman, ATK, and even NASA continue to cripple our workforce. With the purchase of the Glass Bank, engineering and construction jobs would be created immediately. Vibrant and educated labor personnel will be employed and remain within our community. Surrounding businesses will thrive. Our downtown area will be revitalized. The tourism industry would benefit. Brevard county, and all of Central Florida, will stand up and take notice of the building. Here, in the form of a single, remarkable structure, we have the opportunity for instant, tangible results in a land full of skeptics. And all this, for less than 1% of the cost of the high-speed rail! Think of the far-reaching implications. The restored Glass Bank will stand as an iconic symbol for a green future and a fresh, rejuvenated space program. Once again, our little seaside village has the opportunity to ignite the imaginations and hopes of Florida.
I am enclosing with this letter two photos of the Glass Bank. The first shows it as it appeared in the 1960s, during the apex of the Apollo missions. The second depicts the structure in its current state of decay.
I hope you will consider this unique proposition. The people of Cocoa Beach await your decision with the highest of hopes.
With deepest regards,
Dan Reiter
Enclosures (2)
* Note to the locals: this letter failed to mention the fact that the top two floors of the Glass Bank are currently occupied by an eccentric recluse, a man by the name of Frank Wolfe, who refuses to part with his property, and who has blocked in all the windows of his pied-a-terre. Ironically enough, Wolfe once served as city attorney during the “flush times” of the early ’60s. This trifling fact was either too unseemly, or else too unimportant to bother the President with — the reader is free to decide which.
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• Issue 1, Volume 6, March 2010
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Recently, while I was at Cocoa attending the annual Mosquito Beaters weekend festivites –I was fortunate to hear that you had written an article in this local paper about the GLASS BANK. My father, Earl H. Gray, who chartered First Federal Savings & Loan Assoc of Cocoa and Cocoa Beach built the bank. He served as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors until he passed away in 1980. I loved that bank and went to take pictures while I was there. I would love to talk to Mr. Wolfe. I certainly hope that there is a way to preserve that historical building. It was the first multi-floored building on the beach. It would be quite a shame to let it go. I left Cocoa for college in 1957, but I do come back. I have always enjoyed going to Cocoa Village mainly because it feels like I’m ‘home’ again. I have that same feeling about the GLASS BANK. Please feel free to respond to this.
I hope that a Federal grant will be issued.
Thanks for your article,
Joan Gray Griffies
33 Parks Ave.
Newnan, Ga. 30263
Dear Mr. Reiter:
I have been here 45 years and I fail to remember Ramon’s Rainbow Room EVER being in the Glass Bank, where the STAR’S used to hang out and gaze out at the Banana River. Where did you get your information???? Ramon’s Rainbow Room was on the 520 Causeway where the Dinosaur Building is now. They were famous for their Prime Rib….It was a Landmark, everyone went there eventually. What you’re talking about is the Surf Restaurant it was famous all over the world, Frank Sinatra, and other stars, astronauts, etc., frequented this restaurant all the time.
And yes Frank Wolfe lives on the top of the Glass Bank, that’s his home, he has never had windows but the environment inside fits him to a tea so get your nose out of his business. He was a huge part and character in Cocoa Beache’s history. He’s one of the reasons this city is so interesting.
Eminent Domain my butt!
Aren’t you a little tired of our government getting into our business?
The Glass Bank is THE Landmark of Cocoa Beach, so its fallen into disrepair
but what hasn’t? I know many people would be absolutely against anything happening to that bank, its wonderful. Its a memory, its something from yesterday. I cherish it…I wish places like Desperados were still here along with the Islander Hut but no, they had to build a monstrosity of a condo there to house more people. Oh don’t get me wrong, your money is nice, but your complaints keep coming no matter what, people keep trying to make this town into something no one who has lived here for any amount of time wants, do you even care?
If you don’t like the way it looks, don’t look at it. For goodness sake, it can’t cause you that much hardship. Everyone who comes here wants change, sometimes change is not good, sometimes its just good to leave well enough alone and appreciate the past. Its a wonderful part of my family’s life, its a good memory of past years….I want that memory.
The thing everyone loves about Cocoa Beach is its atmosphere if it doesn’t fit you, move on. Don’t write to the President, Good Lord!
This town has made many changes because of all the snowbirds who want to live here, just relax and enjoy this area as it is.
I truly wish that if they had put a condom on the first condo maybe they wouldn’t have multiplied!
I disagree with you, find something else to do, I’m sure Obama’s busy.
Respectfully,
JUDY SLATER LANE
Dear Ms. Slater Lane,
Ramon’s had two locations. The first, as you accurately point out, was on 520. Ramon’s RAINBOW ROOM, however, was most certainly situated on the top floor of the Glass Bank. In fact, here’s a link to a 1968 supplement to the Gannett newspaper “Today” which advertises “music for dancing Friday and Saturday nights by the Bert Francis Quartet” in the Rainbow Room, and lists the address as “First Federal Plaza.”
http://www.footnote.com/image/#230855377
Better yet, here’s an old postcard which advertises both Ramon’s and Ramon’s Rainbow Room, along with fairly inarguable picture proof (notice the windows on the top floors.)
http://www.uer.ca/locations/viewgal.asp?picid=244377
Onto your next question: “Aren’t you a little tired of our government getting in our business?”
I suppose you have a point there. I mean, what’s the deal with this cockamamie “Space Program” anyway? And what about this nonsense venture they call the “military?” I’m sure we’d all be better off without these superfluous government interests bringing down our otherwise booming economy here on the Space Coast… And hey, while we’re slamming the government in general, don’t you wish they would stop building these silly things called “roads,” “sewers,” and “water lines?” Really, if we could only eliminate taxes completely, maybe then we could go back to how this town was in the old days, before the government came in and got all up in our business!
Another of your concerns: “I know many people would be absolutely against anything happening to that bank…”
Excuse me if I alarmed these people, but my request for a ballistic weaponry was purely in jest.
Onward: “If you don’t like the way it looks, don’t look at it.”
A truly insightful suggestion. This technique has been proven to work brilliantly throughout the ages. There is even a name for it in modern psychology. It’s called “denial.”
Now… regarding the parts of your comment we can both agree on: (I am doing my best to ignore the “get your nose out,” and “find something else to do” remarks, as they must have been written in the heat of the moment) – that the Glass Bank is a landmark, that it is a cherished memory in this town, that it should remain standing for future generations… These are astute considerations, and also precicely the reasons our community should aim to restore the building. If we let the Glass Bank fall into further ruin, eventually the structural damage will be so complete that the only viable option will be demolition. What will go up in its stead? Your guess is as good as mine. If you read the previous comment, you might have noticed that in bringing up this issue, I am actually honoring our past, not trying to destroy it.
My proposal (though most likely a pipe-dream) was not merely a summons to use our money in wiser and more efficient ways than the high-speed rail, or to simply recapture those glory bygone days, but also an appeal to link our celebrated past to a brighter, more inspiring future.
Without dreams, without innovation, and without change (the things that are best about humanity) our society would be allowed to fall, like the Glass Bank, into ruin.
Good luck,
D
I can appreciate your satire, your passion and your reverence for days gone by. I can also appreciate the readers’ comments and certainly Judy’s standpoint as a long time resident of the area. She brings up excellent points regarding the unwanted growth of our beloved little town. However as we all know, things inevitably change and with that change comes unwanted (and occasionally wasteful) “progress”, just look at the unoccupied (read: never occupied) condos littered throughout the south streets.
However, all things considered I have to agree with the author regarding the future of that building. It either needs demolition or revitalization, leaving it in its current state of disrepair will almost certainly lead to it being deemed structurally unsound and unfit for any sort of inhabitation, resulting in forced demolition.
Personally, speaking as a 25 year resident of Cocoa Beach, I like the idea of revitalizing the building, government funded or otherwise, of course leaving Mister Wolfe compensated fairly for his inconvenience.
Another possible option would be for the City to purchase the bottom five floors of the bank, and work directly with Mr. Wolfe to “lush-out” the top tiers with tropical vegetation. Thus, a mixed-use (solar?) property, with the condo residence remaining intact, and with commercial and government entities below.
Obviously, a federal grant has not (and most likely will not) be issued for the purchase of the Glass Bank. The more pragmatic elements of the discussion have been further hashed out here:
http://www.2ndlight.com/fusetalk/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=4&threadid=106666&enterthread=y
This surely brought back memories and I am saddened every time I drive by this historical landmark that has slowly become an eyesore. I remember as a child riding up the glass elevator as my father Ronnie Porter, chef and later owner or Ramon’s, would take my sister and I there almost every Sunday while he would over see the cleaning and restocking for the next week. As a 50 year resident of Brevard County I would love to see this building restored. I consider myself privileged to have grown up in an era that allowed me to meet almost all the 7 original Astronauts as well as many of the media, entertainment and political personalities that have visited the Space Coast.
I love the web site and would love to see this historic site restored.
Ask my aunt Leonilde Crapis. Her deceased husband Carmen Crapis managed these with the Holt Family in the 60′s. She lives in Melbourne and can give a very accurate account of the whole story of Ramon’s Rainbow room. Yes there were two locations and both had entertained Big shots & entertainers from the era. get the scope from the inside 321-652-1234 she would be glad to talk about the old days there.
ASK ME, MY BROTHER IN LAW CARMEN CRAPIS MANAGED THE RAINBOW ROOM, THE BEST, OF THE BEST, PRIME RIB AND CAESAR SALAD. EACH TIME A MISSILE WENT UP, ALL HEAD OF STATE AND ALL IMPORTANT PEOPLE WHERE THERE HAVING DINNER, IT WAS TRULY A SPLENDOR. I HAVE PICTURE OF THE INTERIOR, AND WHEN FRANK SINATRA JR.PLAYED THERE WITH HIS BAND.THOSE WHERE THE GOOD ALL DAYS WHEN A HOST NEW EVERYONE BY THE FIRST NAME.MY WEDDING RECEPTION WAS AT THE SECOND LOCATION THE RAMON.S MR AND MRS HOLT THE OWNER’S WHERE MOST GRACIOUS. IT IS A LANDMARK LETS SAVE IT.
I just stumbled upon these comments this morning, and fortunately, I can see many other residents are passionate about preserving the Glass Bank building!
This is a wonderful landmark here in Brevard County, and an invaluable link to our county’s past. Hopefully, the City of Cocoa Beach can conjure up some funds to restore this building to its former glory. In today’s issue of Florida Today, I see that they’re at least relocating that beautiful old Medjool Palm from the park in front.
In 2007, there was a frenzied attempt to locate “Pinky” The Elephant, formerly of Lee Caron’s Carnival Club. I contibuted to a couple of articles printed in Florida Today, and was put in contact with Jim Culbertson here in Melbourne. “Pinky” was located at a car dealership in the Northeast, and though we had initially sparked an interest in bringing the Pachyderm back to the Space Coast, that interest quickly waned. Where would the money come from to buy “Pinky” back? How would he be transported? Was he structurally sound enough for the trip, and where in the heck were we going to put him when we got him here? Unfortunately, these questions were never answered, and the dealership was closed. Who knows where he is now?
So, we had to let ol’ Pinky go. Even if we had drummed up enough support for a massive fundraiser, it probably wouldn’t have been enough.
Let’s find a way to save the Glass Bank building so it doesn’t meet the same fate as Pinky The Elephant, and God knows how many other wonderful landmarks we have here in Brevard! I’ll keep my eyes on this site for any other comments. or maybe some good news about the building.