This grand building is the first steel frame high-rise building built in #lakeland #florida and found at 129 S. Kentucky Ave. Once 1 of the hottest addresses in the downtown area, there was a high demand by doctors, lawyers & other professionals to office there and it continued to hold status as the most prestigious office location for 40 years. Watson Clinic was founded here and during WWII, Lakeland's famed Lodwick School of Aeronautics once had their administrative offices here. Dominant in Lakeland’s skyline, the building’s been referred to as everything-the unimaginative "10-story building" to an official-sounding "Broderick Building” however most know it’s as the #marblearcade. The building dates back to the 1920s during times the future looked unusually bright thanks to the rosy glow of the Florida land boom, when hotels sprang up in downtowns across Florida, like the Terrace Hotel and New Florida Hotel found in Lakeland. The Marble Arcade was different because developers E.J. Sparks and M.C. Talley wanted to appeal to successful businessman, so they engaged a popular Florida architect, Roy A. Benjamin of Jacksonville, who also designed the Palace Theater also found on Kentucky Ave., but also numerous theaters across the state. Completed in 1926 with a final cost of $370,000, the building featured 8 floors of office space with 2 the bottom floors as retail space and set off from those above by the use of contrasting facing materials, a method used by architect Louis Sullivan in many of early American skyscrapers. #themoreyouknow #history #historicbuildings #floridahistory #randomfacts #historylesson #floridalife #floridaphotos #centralflorida #polkcounty #youlearnsomethingneweveryday #downtownlakeland #weekendvibes #floridanative #floridian #historicalbuilding (at The Marble Arcade) https://www.instagram.com/p/CU4FIqpsu1-/?utm_medium=tumblr