Old Cocoa Beach Glass Bank

With a construction cost exceeding $750,000 ($6.1 million in today’s  dollars), the Glass Bank would have been an impressive structure for a larger city like Ft. Lauderdale, but in a community the 1960 US Census revealed had yet to surpass 3,500 it demonstrated how business believed Cocoa Beach would continue to grow and thrive with each step to the Moon.  The bank’s 4.5 floors of 20,000 sq ft offered mixed use commercial space – the savings and loan on the ground floor, mezzanine, 2 floors of office space and a restaurant on the top floor. While the Sky Room Restaurant would only survive one year, it was supplanted by Ramon’s Rainbow Room. The Rainbow Room offered fine dining and expansive views of the Atlantic Ocean, along with performances by many of the era’s Las Vegas headliners. To accommodate a need for additional seating, in 1965 the Rainbow Room would initiate a significant modification to the building by extending the restaurant’s  walls to the edge of the white arches that had provided patrons an opportunity to watch Cape launches from an observation skywalk that encircled the fourth floor. Citizens made the mezzanine level a community focal point, where groups ranging from scouting to weight loss met free of charge. Because of its height and distinctive design, the building became a physical navigation point for the community – directions were given in terms of being north or south of the Glass Bank. During the first decade of operation, it was not uncommon for tourists to photograph the Glass Bank and request a tour.

A BUILDING EVOLVES

The significant reduction of NASA’s budget following the successful completion of Project Apollo’s initial lunar landing in 1969 would impact businesses throughout Brevard County, including Cocoa Beach.  Vacancies began to appear on the Glass Bank’s second and third-floor offices which had maintained full occupancy during the building’s first decade of operation. Ramon’s Rainbow Room would close in 1970 and was replaced by Marby’s Rainbow Room who would close in 1972 and end restaurant operations in the Glass Bank. Eventually, tourism and retirees replaced the missile and space industry and with it changed the commercial space needs of the city. This was reflected in the structure’s major modifications in the 1980s, as the fourth floor upscale restaurant space gave way to a law firm and aerospace office space was ultimately transformed into a fitness center. In an attempt to remedy some of its glass facade leakage issues, the exterior of the structure sported significantly less glass than it did in the 1960s and attorney Frank Wolfe would top the structure with a two-story penthouse condominium.  In 2004, hurricanes significantly damaged the building resulting in the loss of all commercial occupants and bring a decade of structural decay. In spite of this, its demolition in 2015 would demonstrate the former significance of the Glass Bank to the community as crowds gathered to view its destruction and share stories of its glory years.

TIMELINE

1960 – Construction begins.

1961 – Structure Construction ends.

1962 – First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Cocoa – Cocoa Beach Branch officially opens.

1962 – Sky Room Restaurant opens.

1963 – Sky Room Restaurant closes.

1963 – Construction begins on external “Express Elevator”.

1963 – Ramon’s Rainbow Room opens.

1965 – Rainbow Room expands floor space by moving windows to the edge of the external catwalk.

1970 – Ramon’s Rainbow Room closes.

1970 – Marby’s Rainbow Room opens.

1972 – Marby’s Rainbow room closes.   No other restaurant will occupy 4th floor.

1978 – Tornado damages Glass Bank.

1983 – Penthouse addition and stucco of exterior facade completed.

1983 – First Federal Savings & Loan Association is acquired by The First FA.

1985/86 – Reliance Bank occupies first-floor banking facilities.

1990 – Nautilus Fitness modifications.

1995 – Name change of lower floor banking facilities to Huntington Bank.

2004 – No tenants occupy the lower portion of the building.

2014 – City approves demolition.

2014 – Preparation for demolition.

2015 – Demolition of the building.

Laser Scanning

Just prior to its demolition in January 2015, the ChronoPoints team conducted a laser scan of the Glass Bank exterior for digital preservation. The highly accurate laser scan point cloud data acquired provides for a digital representation of the building as it existed immediately before demolition and as a foundation to assist in the development of a 3D model of the structure’s exterior as it appeared in 1963. Historic images, documents, and oral histories enabled our team to model the interior of the First Federal Saving & Loan lobby, the Ramon’s Rainbow Room dining area, and Express View elevator.

We are always seeking images of the Glass Bank and are especially interested in interior images of the offices, Ramon’s Rainbow Room, all phases of construction and nearby buildings. If you worked in the Glass Bank or visited it during its initial ten years of operation we would like to conduct a brief oral history with you.  All documents are of interest. Please join us in completing our recreation of this Space-Age architectural wonder.

Augmented Reality

Upon receiving two Microsoft HoloLens units during Microsoft’s first HoloLens Academic Research Award competition, we developed an experience that enables users to explore the Glass Bank through Augmented Reality.  Here, the Glass Bank can be superimposed over real world objects. Imagine there was a physical model of the Glass Bank on a table, you could walk around it and examine it from all perspectives, this can be accomplished virtually with an Augmented Reality unit like the HoloLens.  But the interaction does not end with walking around, you can remove floors and walls, and with our experience redesign aspects of the structure utilizing today’s building materials.

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