Orlando given historic building in donation
When the Rogers Building was first built in the 1880s, much of what is now downtown Orlando was surrounded by cattle farms and citrus groves.
The building at Magnolia Avenue and Pine Street was once home to the Old English Club and the Cosmopolitan Club, where settlers sipped spirits and shot billiards. Fully renovated and restored, it’s now an art gallery that displays watercolor paintings and stoneware.
The 132-year-old structure was donated to the city this week by arts benefactor Ford Kiene, with the requirement the city must use it for arts and culture for at least the next two decades.
“We’re ecstatic that we get possession of a very historic building and a meticulously maintained building,” said Downtown Development Board Executive Director Thomas Chatmon. “We need more homes for the cultural amenities, so we’re happy to retain one for at least the next 20 years — and I suspect it will be longer than
that.”
The city hasn’t decided yet how it will use the 7,600-square-foot building, which was assessed in 2017 at $955,803. Chatmon said the donation was Kiene’s idea and only came together recently. It will be renamed the Rogers Kiene Building.
Built in 1886, the Queen Anne style, two-story structure is considered one of the oldest buildings in Orlando. These days, it is surrounded by dozens of bars and restaurants in the heart of downtown.
In its early years, it thrived as a club, with three pool tables and a bar with casks of wine and liquor at a time when Orlando was beginning to bustle, city records show.
When the building first opened, Orlando was starting to reap the economic rewards from the 1880 arrival of the railroad, said Richard Forbes, Orlando historic preservation officer. But there was still a rural feel to the city.
“There would have been orange groves right outside the heart of downtown,” Forbes said. “The train brought a huge amount of development and growth to the city.”
The building was constructed by an English settler named Gordon Rogers, and as a social club, the dark green building with red trim and metal siding hosted theatrical performances and dances, city records show.
It was named an Orlando Historic Landmark in 1978 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Rogers sold the building in 1894, and in the years that followed, it served as home to the South Florida Sentinel newspaper — which eventually became the Orlando Sentinel — and later held a cabinet business, the Orange County Democratic Party and several restaurants and bars.
Kiene bought it in 1999 after it had fallen into disrepair and had the building restored to its glory days. It now serves as the home to the Gallery at Avalon Island, which displays art in a gallery on the first floor.
It also has a coffee shop that serves beer and wine during events, which include twice-monthly art shows and movies, said curator Pat Green.
He said the gallery also hosts popular readings and music events. Upstairs is office space, a movie theater and an apartment where Green lives.
Kiene, who could not be reached for comment, was honored at Orlando’s City Council meeting Monday, but he didn’t speak. The city also will have a ceremony to celebrate the donation Wednesday at the building.
“I think Mr. Kiene deserves a lot of credit for restoring it … at a time it looked really shabby,” said Joy Wallace Dickinson, Orange County historian. “It’s at the center of a really important story of the English who settled here and used it as a social club.”