Posts tagged Henry Flagler
Flagler College awarded three state grants for 125th Anniversary celebration
Nov 13th
Historically, the Solarium served as an area where guests could gather for conversation, enjoy entertainment, or watch activities taking place in town or along the bay front. Rehabilitation of this room and the fourth floor will permit similar activities, as well as provide for an exceptional event venue. The Solarium remains as the last significant space to be restored in the former Hotel Ponce de Leon, and the room is quite different than any other.
The fundraising campaign began in 2009, and since that time the College has secured more than $1,500,000 from private sources for the project. In honor of their lead gift, the Solarium will be renamed to recognize historic preservation supporters and philanthropists Allen and Delores Lastinger.
All of the projects are expected to begin in fall of 2012.
Flagler College has chosen St. Augustine-based A.D. Davis Construction, which specializes in custom construction for commercial, residential, renovation and historic restoration, to complete the Solarium project.
Projects that were approved for funding are:
• $350,000 for restoration of the Solarium of the former Hotel Ponce de Leon, a National Historic Landmark, additionally honoring the 100th anniversary of Henry Flagler’s completion of the Overseas Railway and his importance to the development of Florida;
• $50,000 through a #1 ranked Acquisition and Development grant for restoration of the Solarium; and
• $25,000 through a #1 ranked Community Education grant for the 125th Anniversary Exhibition project.
Hotel Ponce de Leon — Solarium
The twin towers of the Ponce flank a great dome topped by a copper lantern. These elements define the St. Augustine skyline and have done so since the time of the Hotel’s opening in 1888. They represent Florida’s first “boom” era; serve as landmarks for travelers on land and water; and are the featured architectural elements in many photos. In 1964, prior to St. Augustine’s 400th anniversary, the City established height limitations relative to these building elements: no building would be constructed taller than the towers on the Ponce. Those standards remain in place today, helping to make the St. Augustine skyline one of the most photographed in the nation and reflecting the city’s longstanding commitment to preservation of its cultural resources.
The grant projects have been financed in part with historic preservation grant assistance provided by the Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State, assisted by the Florida Historical Commission.
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Flagler College is an independent, four-year, comprehensive baccalaureate college located in St. Augustine, Fla. The college offers 24 majors, 29 minors and two pre-professional programs, the largest majors being business, education and communication. Small by intent, Flagler College has an enrollment of about 2,500 students, as well as a satellite campus at Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Fla. U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review regularly feature Flagler as a college that offers quality education at a relatively low cost; tuition is $23,690, including room and board. A relatively young institution (founded in 1968), Flagler College is also noted for the historic beauty of its campus. The main building is Ponce de Leon Hall, built in 1887 as a luxury resort by Henry Flagler, who co-founded the Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller. For more on Flagler College, visit www.flagler.edu
Source: Flagler College
Flagler College theater department presents ‘Six Degrees of Separation’
Oct 15th
The story centers on Ouisa Kittredge, a Fifth Avenue socialite and Flan, her purveyor of high-art husband. Their privileged world makes them easy prey for a con artist who mysteriously shows up at their front door-injured and bleeding-claiming to be Sidney Poitier’s son and a close college friend of their Ivy League children.
The Flagler production stars Caulene Hudson as Ouisa, Micah Laird as Flan and Nick Khan as Paul, the con-artist who charms his way into many upper-crust homes along the Upper East Side with his wit and insider knowledge.
“I think it’s a script that will leave the viewer thinking,” said director Britton Corry, of the play that premiered in 1990. “In this country, most of us are not what we might wish other to think we are, but even though we may see ourselves as being worlds apart from many people, there are only six degrees of separation.”
Show times for “Six Degrees of Separation” will be at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19-20 and 26-27 with 2 p.m. matinees Oct. 21 and 28. Tickets are $15 and are available from noon-5 p.m. at the auditorium box office or one hour prior to curtain.
Lewis Auditorium at Flagler College is at 14 Granada St. in St. Augustine. For more info, call (904) 826-8600.
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Flagler College is an independent, four-year, comprehensive baccalaureate college located in St. Augustine, Fla. The college offers 24 majors, 29 minors and two pre-professional programs, the largest majors being business, education and communication. Small by intent, Flagler College has an enrollment of about 2,500 students, as well as a satellite campus at Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Fla. U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review regularly feature Flagler as a college that offers quality education at a relatively low cost; tuition is $23,690, including room and board. A relatively young institution (founded in 1968), Flagler College is also noted for the historic beauty of its campus. The main building is Ponce de Leon Hall, built in 1887 as a luxury resort by Henry Flagler, who co-founded the Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller. For more on Flagler College, visit www.flagler.edu
Source: Flagler College
Flagler College announces anniversary celebration to commemorate 125th anniversary of the Hotel Ponce de Leon
Oct 12th
January 10, 2013 marks the anniversary of the opening of the Ponce in 1888. The celebration will include events focusing on the architectural, artistic, recreational and sociological impact the hotel has had on modern society, as well as showcase its historic and architectural highlights.
In conjunction with “Celebrating the Legacy: 125 Years of the Hotel Ponce de Leon,” the college has taken on the final restoration of the hotel, the Solarium. The domed Solarium rises from the center of the building and is flanked by symmetrical roof terraces and twin towers that pierce the St. Augustine skyline. These dramatic outdoor spaces afford unparalleled views of the city, the nearby Intracoastal Waterway and Bridge of Lions, as well as the Atlantic Ocean.
The Solarium served as a place where hotel guests gathered for conversation, enjoyed entertainment or watched activities taking place in town. It has been closed for more than 20 years, and the restoration is expected to be completed in 2013.
The anniversary celebration will honor the legacy of Flagler’s entrepreneurship and community-building. The founding partner with John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil, he launched a resort empire along Florida’s east coast with construction of the Ponce. The Spanish Renaissance Revival hotel incorporated the talents of New York architects John Carrere and Thomas Hastings (New York Public Library) and Bernard Maybeck (Palace of the Fine Arts, San Francisco), interiors and 79 stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany, murals by George Maynard and steam power and electricity by Thomas Edison. The Ponce’s twin towers serve as an anchor to St. Augustine’s historic area.
“Celebrating the Legacy” will include: an opening day tour with period re-enactors leading guests through the Ponce on the same day the hotel first opened its doors; an exhibit of beautifully preserved original blueprints of the Ponce; a “Celebrating the Legacy” exhibit on the hotel’s construction, sports, leisure and arts; a community lecture series by Flagler professors; and a gilded age speaker series.
For more events and details about the celebration, go to www.ponce125.com
Source: Flagler College