The Jacksonville USO building is known as the oldest continuously operating USO in the world. Now, the city is moving forward with demolishing its former home on Tallman Street.
Condemning that building is condemning memories, and I think that’s hard for them to see and watch that go,” said Alysa Dailey, USO Center Operations Specialist.
The building opened in 1942 and closed in 2021 after a Navy site study found severe foundation failures. The Marine Corps later declared the property excess.
“It is not operational. We can’t have people within that facility. It does sit in on two major sinkholes. It was a very hard decision for us to leave such a historical building, but with that, we brought everything that we possibly could detach from the building, historically, with us.”
The city later purchased the property for just over $40,000. A historical marker is planned for the site as the city plans for future waterfront redevelopment.
“Council’s concept was to make the land more accessible to the public, and connect it and take advantage of the water,” Deputy City Manager Ron Massey said.
The USO now operates on Camp Lejeune, where officials say they’ve seen a major increase in service members coming through the doors.
“We saw about twelve hundred people a year out on Tallman Street. Moving our location from October 2023 to now, we see roughly 40,000 people a year,” Dailey added.
City officials say demolition could start in six weeks to two months.
Council has not yet adopted a final redevelopment plan for the property, with the first step focused on removing the deteriorating building and preparing the site.