UCF Honors College student Nicholas Hammond was in my Laser Scanning America’s Past course and asked if we could laser scan a coffee shop that was in danger of being demolished by the end of 2025. His desire stemmed not from the building’s architecture or affiliation with a well-known individual. He wanted to ensure that its cultural significance to musicians, artists, and others within the community would be preserved in some manner.
This September, Nicholas and a few of us went to Austin’s to conduct a laser scan of the building’s exterior. Nicholas will create a larger project page for Austin’s, including a point cloud representation from the scans and a more in-depth view of the cultural scene. I decided to look more into the building’s history.
My first impression of Austin’s as a building was that it had to have been constructed in the mid-1950s and no later than 1961/62. A quick online search reveals it was 1953. But what business first occupied the building? Nicholas spotted an important clue on the west wall that appeared as if a drive-thru window had been closed up with concrete blocks, blending into the wall. Well, sure enough, a 1956 ad reveals that it was occupied by Winter Park Drive-In Pkg Store (a liquor store). And that also accounts for the odd layout of the land parcel – you drove in along the narrow east corridor and then proceeded to pick up your goods by that west side window. I need to head to the Winter Park Library to do a bit of research as to how long the liquor store remained, or if there were any name changes. Currently, I can only say that it remained a package store at least until 1972.
The 1981 Winter Park sinkhole confirmed what the business was by then. In May 1981, a large sinkhole appeared on Denning approaching Fairbanks Ave. that would consume the home of Mae Rose Owens, portions of a City of Winter Park Olympic-sized swimming pool, a German automobile service shop, and threaten three other businesses – a dry cleaner, music store, and CP Printing and Copying shop. Yep, that print shop is now Austin’s. This was confirmed by a Winter Park sinkhole study conducted by Jammal & Associates. Video footage and photos from the era reveal something interesting in relation to Austin’s, there was a north facing rear door and two windows. The Jammal & Associates Sinkhole Survey noted “The back of the C.P. Printing and Copying building at 929 W. Fairbanks started the crumble.” So, I assume they elected to reconstruct that back wall without the door and windows. I will investigate more about the types of businesses before becoming Austin’s, and Nick will examine the history of Austin’s itself.