The property was sold in 2014 to a Miami-based South American development company for $1.25 million and then sold again less than a month later to Arlington Expressway Corporate Buildings LLC for nearly $1.3 million. The plan never came to fruition and in 2006, the group sold the property to the church for $5.1 million. In 2003, Bethelite Inc., a group affiliated with Bethel Baptist Institutional Church, bought the Thunderbird with plans to provide a “ wholesome venue for conventions, retreats, proms, weddings and family reunions“. Shortly after its operation as a Quality Inn, the hotel became a Ramada Inn before its closure in 2002. The hotel along with the rest of the neighborhood continued to decline into the 1990s as business shifted towards Southside. By 1984, Thunderbird Resort Hotel filed for bankruptcy and would reopen in July 1986 as a Quality Inn. In 1978, a group of investors bought the hotel with plans to construct a 13-story hotel tower which also was not built. The addition was never built and within two years, three banks sued for foreclosure. The Thunderbird was sold in 1973 to Red Carpet Inn with plans on building a 15-story addition located just behind the iconic Thunderbird sign. JaxPsychoGeo Decline and Closureįrom the 1970s to the late-2010s, the property would change hands multiple times. The Wonderfall at the Thunderbird Motor Hotel from The Florida Times-Union, August 16, 1969, courtesy Special Collections, Jacksonville Public Libraries. Tim Gilmore describes it as “ a flying saucer ascending from tractor beams.” Jackson of Jacksonville’s KBJ Architects called it “ a circular lounge with seated areas arranged around a circular bar.” Halos of beaded strings descended from three circles in a domed ceiling into a larger circle ringed with gin and bourbon and scotch. ![]() Location is close to everything and offers the ultimate in service.” The hotel featured conference space, two swimming pools along with poolside Tiki bars, the Zodiac Room, the Kettle Pub, and the King’s Inn Lounge.Īccording to author Tim Gilmore, the Thunderbird also featured an 80-seat cocktail lounge centered on a bar called “The Wonderfall.” Architect William K. The back of a postcard for the Thunderbird from the early-1970s reads, “ 300 Luxurious rooms, Gourmet Dining Room, 2 Lounges with Live Entertainment, Complete Convention Facilities, Only minutes from Downtown and the Gator Bowl. It wasn’t until 1969 when a major renovation of property transformed the Thunderbird into an extravagant Polynesian and American Indian-themed hotel that became host to countless stars such as The Rolling Stones, Fats Domino, Ann Sothern, and the Sammy Spear Orchestra of The Jackie Gleason Show. ![]() We know most of them by their first names and we know just what they like to eat.The Thunderbird Motor Hotel opened in 1959 in Arlington, once a growing residential and commercial suburb for the downtown business executives of Jacksonville. Local Boulder City folks are our mainstay. ![]() Today, business is great! We employ 4 cooks, 1 prep cook, 2 dishwashers, 6 waitresses, 5 bus girls and a hostess. Just what we were looking for! We went through a lengthy and expensive remodeling experience and finally, late in the year, moved The Cup to its new home at 512 Nevada Way. It had 3,000 square feet and a giant kitchen. In January of 2003 we bought an old restaurant in Old Town. ![]() Lindsay and Terry made biscuits after school while Carri and I did prep work. Carri and I worked 7 days per week and our kids, Lindsay and Terry, helped out. We also had another dishwasher, two other cooks and a bus boy. Carri, my wife, worked as a waitress, and I washed dishes and cooked back up. In the Spring of 1994, “The Cup” opened for business at 558 Nevada Way in the Old Town area of Boulder City, Nevada.
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