Green Terrace Hotel

History of the Green Terrace Hotel

The Green Terrace Hotel, often referred to simply as the Green Hotel, is a large Spanish-style building located in Bowling Green, Florida. Constructed as a municipal project in 1926, it was owned and operated by the city. The hotel cost over $50,000 to build and is situated along Dixie Highway, which runs through the town. It was frequently used to accommodate traveling businessmen and tourists. The history of the Green Terrace not only reflects the story of the building itself but also highlights the rapid growth that Bowling Green experienced in the first half of the 20th century.

Early Years of Bowling Green, Fla.

Bowling Green, Florida, was named after A.M. Chester of Bowling Green, Kentucky, who was one of the earliest settlers to establish a homestead in the vicinity in 1883. The only other settlers at the time were the families of N. M. Bryan and P. H. Peeples. In 1886, he gave 40 acres of land to the Florida Southern Railway for its depot, side tracks, and warehouse. The town was originally named Kentuck, but due to Chester’s inclination, the name was changed to Bowling Green.

As a small agricultural town in Hardee County, its growth was closely tied to farming, particularly in the early 20th century when the area supported a large number of farmers, about 1,500 at its peak. The town developed as a key stop along U.S. Highway 17 and the Dixie Highway, making it a natural hub for commerce and travel. In 1907, the Bowling Green Hotel was built to accommodate the high traffic.

By the 1920s and 1930s, Bowling Green had become a bustling community with various businesses, including grocery stores, hardware stores, barber shops, blacksmith shops, hotels, and a movie theater. The town was also known for its large vegetable shipping operations. Social life thrived, with community dances, Saturday market days, and regular visits from travelers. During its peak in the 1920s, Bowling Green was considered the “Gem of the Peace River Valley.”

Bowling Green 1926 Building Program

In the early 1920s, under the mayorship of W. J. Case, the city of Bowling Green pushed for a large building program, which led to the construction of several new buildings, with the Green Terrace Hotel as the centerpiece. Located at the intersection of Main Street and Oak Avenue, the new municipal hotel was constructed from reinforced concrete blocks with a stucco finish and features a Spanish architectural style design. The two-story structure cost approximately $75,000.

The architect was H.G. Little of Wauchula, who was responsible for designing the 1927 Hardee County Courthouse and the old county jail. He also designed several other municipal buildings, such as the Wauchula High School and Fort Meade High School, although no longer extant. Other projects included numerous residences and businesses throughout Hardee and Polk Counties.

The Green Terrace Hotel offered 24 guest rooms, each featuring hot and cold running water, along with a modern dining room and kitchen. Gas heating was installed throughout the facility, and the layout ensured that every room had access to natural light. Surrounded by landscaped lawns, palm trees, and ornamental plants, the Green Terrace Hotel formally opened on February 24, 1927. This was also the same year that Bowling Green was officially incorporated.

Bowling Green Motor Company Garage

Through this program, W.F. Allen of the Bowling Green Motor Company, Ford dealers, erected a new garage building made of concrete block construction covered in stucco directly across from the Green Terrace Hotel.

It was reported that the new building offered ample space for both new and used car storage, a state-of-the-art service station equipped for all types of automotive repairs, and a fully outfitted battery service center. The site also includes office and sales space. The total cost of construction was approximately $20,000, with an additional $20,000 worth of parts in inventory, an important contribution to the town’s 1926 expansion.

The Altman Building

Another significant project completed that year was the Altman Building, erected by John Milton Altman, owner of the Altman Motor Company. This two-story brick structure features four spacious storefronts, each measuring approximately 30 by 80 feet. With concrete floors and fully finished interiors, the building was designed to meet retail demands for the time. On the upper floor, there were twelve offices, most of which were already leased by the time the building opened. The estimated cost of the project was $30,000, and the architect for the building was H.G. Little.

Palace Theater

Also completed in 1926 is the Palace Theater, a brick and stucco building constructed at a cost of $13,500 by William Cliett, who later served as a state senator. In addition to the theater itself, the structure included two retail spaces on the ground floor and four office rooms on the second level. It was situated on Main Street next to the Ford building.

A.A. Price’s Grocery Store

Anderson A. Price also contributed to Bowling Green’s development with the construction of a new grocery store on Oak Avenue. The modest frame building, which cost approximately $1,000 to build, replaced his former location and made room for the Bowling Green News, which occupied his old store space.

From Hotel to Rehab Center: The Bowling Green Inn

By the 1970s, the city’s golden years were long behind, and so were the days of the Green Terrace Hotel. In 1971, James L. Streck, a former alcoholic and psychologist, worked at the state’s rehabilitation center in Avon Park before purchasing the old hotel and opening the Bowling Green Inn treatment center.

Strack’s theory was that alcoholism was as much a result of mental problems as the cause of them. He saw countless “cured” alcoholics returning to the Avon Park center with the same problem. He theorized that the root of the problem was that the treatment did not go far enough beyond the disease into the relationship and circumstances that surrounded and added to it.

As a result, the Inn’s treatment program attempted to address the emotional issues related to the person’s problem and to involve the person closest to the patient in the treatment as well. What that entailed was bringing that significant other, be it a romantic partner, close friend, or family member, to the center for a minimum 28-day period, who would go through the same psychological therapy as the patient.

The patients lived together in a therapeutic community and participated in large group therapy aimed at communicating their feelings to the group. Patients were also given a strict schedule, giving a structured life aimed at putting order in a disorganized life. They would spend hours with counselors, pouring out their feelings to one another and acting out real-life situations their hung up on, hoping to blurt out some hidden frustrations or motivation they haven’t been able to express.

Streck hoped that the patient left there an overall better person than when they joined and boasted his treatment program had a 75 percent success rate. The Inn gained a reputation not only for its unorthodox treatment program, but the success stories that came from it. Streck later sold the building to Manor Healthcare Inc., which focused more on nursing care than treatment centers.

Closure and Abandonment

The center closed in 1987, and in 1988, it briefly operated as a restaurant before reopening as a treatment center, although the name was changed to The Inn at Bowling Green. Unfortunately, it was not as successful as its predecessor. On February 15, 1993, the First National Bank of Wauchula foreclosed, claiming the Inn had failed to make any payments since June 1992. Although abandoned and in utter disrepair, the former Green Terrace Hotel remains a focal point of the town to this day.

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