The other day, I heard that the old Daytona Bowl and River Deck restaurant was torn down. Back in the day (I sound so old when I say that), this was a staple swing dance night for the Daytona scene. Dawn and I danced out there many times. It was a cool place. It had a parquet wood dance floor with windows that overlooked the Halifax river (neat effect), a lounge that offered food and drink, and was directly connected to the bowling alley. Sure, the dance floor was sticky, but overall it was a nice place to dance and hang out. While swing nights there ended a long time ago, it’s still sad to see the venue go.

So what’s to become of it? You guessed it! Condos!

We’re often asked about the limited dance venues in Central Florida. This is a prime example of what happens to them. I applaud the Tampa Bay area for preserving their old dance floors and places to dance. Orlando seems more fixated on new growth. Did you know that Orlando once had a Coliseum like the one in St. Pete? It burned down in the 60’s and the city chose not to rebuild it. Other dance floors have made way for new development. What’s left often competes for wedding bookings (a process that drives prices out of the reach of dancers).

Not saying River Deck was a great dance hall by any means. But there is now one less dance floor in Central Florida and one more “multi-family development site”.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 6th, 2007 at 1:22 pm and is filed under Rob's Stuff.