I remember growing up in Orlando with Church Street Station as a local hotspot.  In the 1970's the skywriting planes would fly out every weekend and write "Rosies" in the sky (for Rosie O'Grady's club) to invite everyone down to the establishment. 

In the 1980's the Church Street Market opened up with lots of restaurants, stores, and attractions.  Horse carriage rides were common throughout downtown Orlando.  You could see the beacon lights shining up in the clouds from Church Street all over town.  I remember in high school going down to Church Street many times on weekends. Downtown Orlando even became a cruising spot to drive around on Saturday nights. The place became a real destination for both locals and tourists.

In the 1990's they had carnival style street shows, valet parking for their clubs, and the Terror on Church Street haunted attraction.  Downtown Orlando really had a great night life to it.  You can read a whole chronology on Wikipedia.

Then sometime in the early 2000's the whole thing kind of imploded and shut down.  Lou Pearlman creator of boy bands like N'Sync and the Backstreet Boys took over the thing and sort of ran it into the ground.  Mr. Pearlman is now in bankruptcy court and headed for a long prison term for fraud. 

Last year Orlando super-developer Cameron Kuhn bought the place at the bankruptcy auction.  The city of Orlando promised lots of big incentives for the re-development. Some good things have happened at Church Street since then.  But now this week, Mr. Kuhn announces  that he is basically broke and drowning in his properties.  This puts Church Street Station back into limbo again even though Mr. Kuhn says he is still focusing on the project.

I have a lot of fond memories of the whole Church Street complex and sure hope that somebody can bring its status back to its glory days.

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(Copyright © 2008. Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rob Arnold, ABR, CPL, CRB, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Licensed mortgage broker, Notary Public

407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318    www.SDRhouses.com/   www.WeBuyHousesFlorida.com/

Your full service and investor friendly Realtor in Orlando. Learn to invest in Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Investor mentoring and counseling available. I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, and Brevard.

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