SAVE ORLANDO’S HISTORY! Once again the Diocese of Orlando representatives are planning to propose to the Orlando Historic Preservation Board at the scheduled May 2010 hearing a request for demolition of the historic structure adjacent to the St. James Cathedral School. The building at the intersection of Cathcart Ave and Ridgewood St was built in 1927 originally as the Central Christian Church. The building has been instrumental in the historic religious growth of Orlando, serving as the “birthplace” of a diversity of Orlando’s congregations; Central Christian, Jewish, Free Methodist, Pentecostal and now Catholic. The property was sold to the Diocese in 1999 for a gift of $10. Currently the building sits vacant in an attempt of ‘demolition by neglect’. The building is in both the local Lake Eola Heights Historic District as well as in the National Register of Historic Places District. The general membership of the Lake Eola Heights Historic Neighborhood Association has voted unanimously to oppose the demolition. Native or newcomer we are all stewards of Orlando’s historic places. Orlando will never have the opportunity to have a history if it is allowed to be demolished.