PBSCV1599
Gen. James Patton Anderson Camp 1599
Celebrating 34 Years 1992 - 2026
Alhambra Hotel
The Palm Beach Post
Fri, Oct 29, 1978
Page 33
By David Palleson, Post Staff Writer
​
DEMOLITION ORDERED FOR ALHAMBRA HOTEL
​
Saying the only occupants of the deserted Alhambra Hotel are termites stacked in inch thick, West Palm Beach building officials convinced a city board yesterday to put aside objections from the owner and have the hotel demolished.
​
Philip Crenshaw, one of the owners of the downtown Olive Avenue building, pleaded with the building Board of Adjustments and Appeals to give him a year to begin restoring the building, saying it has historic value. He also denied the degree of termite damage.
​
“The termites were so active I practically had to push my way through them. They were an inch thick on the floor,” said building inspector Rocco Lozito.
​
Crenshaw said after the meeting he plans to seek an injunction halting the demolition. He called the inspector “biased” and said the termites aren’t that bad.
​
“It seems to me it would be to the benefit of the city to allow the building to be renovated,” he said. “it’s a question of preserving a historic building with a gorgeous courtyard.”
​
Unless he is successful in court, the city will open bids to demolish the 55-year-old, three-story building on October 30. Six years ago, the city declared the building unsafe but repairable, citing 16 deficiencies and 7 electrical violations. The owner was given 60 days to make repairs or demolish it. “In 1972, the roof was 60% deteriorated,” city building director, Joe Hughes said yesterday.
​
No permit was ever issued for the work. Then in April 1975, the appeals board gave the owners one year to repair the roof, turn off the gas and electricity, install fire sprinklers, and a security system.
​
During September 1976, the board granted another one-year extension, saying it was the final one unless repairs were made.
​
“I’m just a guy who lives next door,” said County Court Judge James Carlisle, who appeared at the meeting as a private citizen. “Since it’s been boarded up, I haven’t been bothered by drunks or vagrants. I think something could be done with the hotel to make it an asset.”
​
“We aren’t champing at the bit that the building be destroyed. At the present time, I’m simply not bothered by it.”
​
The judge said several years ago, before the hotel was boarded up, there were drunks crawling out of the place right and left, and vagrants lighting fires in it to keep warm at night.”
​
Crenshaw said he and four other owners had been considering turning the building into offices which might mean tearing half of it down to provide parking.
The Palm Beach Post
Sun, Nov 02, 1952
Page 32
The Palm Beach Post
Sat, Jul 10, 1937
Page 1
​
INJUNCTIONS HALT HOTEL TAX SALES
​
Temporary Writs Filed For George Washington, Alhambra Hotels
Temporary injunctions, halting sale for 1936 taxes of the George Washington and Alhambra Hotels, were allowed Friday in circuit court here by Judge George W. Tedder, of Fort Lauderdale, who sat in chambers in the absence of Judge C. E. Chillingworth.
​
The restraining orders were granted to George C. Eppleman, owner of the Alhambra, and the Florida Beach Hotel Company, owner of the George Washington, who brought the actions against the city. Both maintained the 1936 taxes were unjust and un- reasonable, and had filed in the registry of the court the amount of taxes held to be equable. The bonds were set at $1,000 each by Judge Tedder.
​
Under these orders, the city, which had halted its tax sale pending the outcome, is enjoined from selling the properties.
​
The opinion of the court in the Eppleman case stated in part: "The defendant submitted evidence on the question of estoppel raised by defendant in opposition to said application. Evidence to the effect that the plaintiff having agreed to purchase the property at foreclosure sale just prior to due date of the taxes in question and the sale consummated December 9, 1936, and plaintiff by his bid having agreed to pay said taxes, is now estopped to deny the validity of the tax . . . If the tax is void for any reason . . . plaintiff is not estopped from asserting its validity. Tender having been made into registry of court of sum admitted to be due, relief sought should be granted .." The other opinion was along similar lines. City Attorney Paul W. Potter represented the city; Beacham & Gaulden, the plaintiffs in both cases.