St.James Building
In 1869-1901 the site of the present St. James Building was occupied by a public inn/hotel with the same name. The building was actually a small village under one roof. It contained telegraph, ticket, luggage transfer facilities, laundry, barbershop, wine room, reading rooms a passenger elevator and accommodations for 500 guests. Famous orchestras performed and the cuisine was noted for its excellence. Travelers from New York and London society, money kings, literary celebrities, dowagers and their daughters made popular a winter vacation in Florida with as many as 65,000 people lodging in the City of Jacksonville during a heyday winter season. The name was chosen, as St. James by its investors, businessmen from Connecticut, the relevance being that Saint James is the patron Saint of travelers.
The great fire of 1901 leveled the original inn/hotel but the proprietor of the building J.R. Campbell engaged the services of a 28-year-old architect in 1904 with the intention of rebuilding, however a working deal backed by cash was not to happen till 1910. Note that the City of Jacksonville hired this same architect in 1901 to take part in the rebuilding their city, which lay in ruins after the fire. The building proprietor found a local merchant who was interested in the property for his retail commercial dry-goods company and teamed him together with the now 34 year old architect, Henry John Klutho. Architect Klutho designed (fast track design) and performed construction management during 1910 – 1912 opening the building on March 23rd. During its original construction 200 tradesmen accomplished the work.
The name St. James Building stuck to the property and the building; both were attractive to the Cohen brothers who operated an upscale department store at this location until the May Company, a national dry-goods chain, purchased their operation in 1959. The building was placed on the list of the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and finally purchased by the City of Jacksonville in 1993 during a major funding program started called 'The Renaissance Plan'. Part of this plan included purchasing, restoring and retrofitting of the St. James for a new city hall which would place the consolidated government at the very heart of the City of Jacksonville's downtown urban area.
The architectural firm of Saxelbye, Powell, Roberts and Ponder was selected to provide services for this important work. Extensive demolition of all interior walls and partitions was required. Columns were removed and other columns added the atrium was reconstructed at the full height of the building (at roof level) and the building was upgraded to codes, handicap-accessibility and energy efficiency. The opening of the new City Hall in the St. James Building occurred on December 12,1997.