Monday, June 10, 2013

PI Update: Sad Days On The Island

All was quiet on beautiful Pleasure Island this weekend as things begin to wind down.  Raglan Road will be staying in business but pretty much everything else to the west will be demolished.
Fuego by Sosa Cigars is supposed to be closing this September when their lease expires.  It is slated for demolition much like the PI Live DJ booth that used to occupy this corner at the Hub.
Fuego has the only remaining Pleasure Island historical plaque still on it.  When the dozen or so that still remained around the Island were removed a couple summers ago, this one was overlooked!
Apricot Lane will be closing soon too.  AL is located in the same building that houses Mannequins, 8TRAX and the Curl surfwear store.  We've not heard anything about the adjacent PI Live Bar but expect it will be demolished.  We expect it to remain open during early construction.
No demolition yet behind the wall at Comedy Warehouse and Laffers Cantina.  The permit has been filed so it's just a matter of time.  It's taken a really long time to get the offices located under those bricks vacated. Give it another few weeks.
One last look behind the wall at Comedy Warehouse.  Those were the days!
The offices that were under Celebration Plaza have been relocated to that rear construction trailer located in the parking lot beyond House of Blues.  A second trailer at the front of this picture has been added and more are on the way.
This is to be the new home of Curl by Sammy Duval which is relocating to this spot in the Splitsville building from their current location on Pleasure Island.  The move is supposed to happen on the June 21st weekend.
The biggest mystery remains the fate of the 8TRAX/Mannequins building. Some sources on the Island say it will be demolished with everything else while other Island sources say it will remain.  I was invited into 8TRAX during this visit and it remains a dilapidated mess inside with junk scattered all over the place.  It is still being used for retail merchandise storage.  8TRAX artwork remains on the walls.  There is evidence of some construction work having begun on a wall near the downstairs bar but even that looks like an unfinished project rather than fresh work in progress.  Sad days on the Island.    

12 comments:

Brian said...

will (if it goes down) really sad for me to see mannequins go down!?

lots of great memories in there! met a lot of great friends that still know.

well if it goes down I will have to make a trip out to see.

Anonymous said...

We shall all bring flowers and mourn.

Caveman said...

Only one kind of Flowers good enough for Mannequins...such a shame

Anonymous said...

wait a minute? back peddling again? I thought the Mannequins/8TRAX building could NOT be taken down? because of the power block on the island is there?
FUNNY HOW "Some sources on the Island say it will be demolished" is said and now you say this before when I and other(s) said disney could take down the Mannequins/8TRAX building! year(s) back! I (WE) could not be right about it and now IT can happen!
UNREAL!
I heard this years back!
hate to say I told you so but.......... HMMM

Anonymous said...

We should all go to PI and set up a ulogy and brings flowers like the above post stated. Just tons and tons of flowers. Thats if we know it IS being knocked down for sure.

Anonymous said...

Did you get any pictures of inside 8TRAX? To bad your invitation wasn't extended for inside of Mannequins. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

And we should all wear black and hold a candle. And sing Ave Maria. How depressing to see this building standing and not doing anything. Even more depressing to see it go down. My memories are going to be buried and demolished. So sad. I am not happy about this. But Karma will strike when they least expect. Its in Gods hands. I can only hope this new phase will bring some LIFE back to the Island. They can call this new place anything they want. I will still call it PLEASURE ISLAND!!!!

KingBob said...

Let me make it clear that we don't know if it will remain or be demolished. All I posted is that there are rumors of both. Personally, I think it will remain standing. It's clearly in the Disney-released concept art. But the Blog would not be accurate if I did not post rumors to the contrary too.

I can't recommend any kind of vigil outside if demolition is its fate. Unfortunately, Mannequins is located on private property and we must respect those rights.

KingBob said...

Regarding taking pictures inside 8TRAX, the Blog published photos previously of the inside post-closure and the inside now looked basically the same:

http://savepleasureisland.blogspot.com/2010/11/breaking-news-8trax-interior-shots.html

Anonymous said...

Maybe this is just an emotional feeling that I'm having but I was on Pleasure Island for Gay Days and I couldn't help but noticing that with all the other changes going on, Mannequins stands well maintained and there was a security guard standing near it the whole evening. It's almost like Disney knows out of all the clubs this one was really something special and they might have originally had other plans buy they can't quite seem to let this one go either. Just like the rest of us. It is still missed and remembered fondly by guests and cast members alike. It seemed that rainy night I was there that it was being guarded almost like a museum. Could it be that Disney is finally coming to realize what a loss it would be? And what would they do with a rotating dance floor than use it to make money in a dance club? I don't know.... maybe it's just me but I felt something in the air that rainy night on PI. I hold on to hope.

Anonymous said...

P.S. There was a PACKED recreation of the GayDays PI welcome party at Parliament House complete with lasers, liquid o2 shooters, fireworks, a PI live booth and celebration dancers. PACKED. There is still such a demand for MDP.

Anonymous said...

Every time I go back I comment that PI gave me some of the best memories of my life!!! I don't want to see mannequins and 8trax go'!!!!