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Orlando, Florida – You could call Lake Eola the heart of Central Florida. It’s hard to imagine this park without its iconic orchestra shell.
But there was a time when another structure defined the lake.
Even more interesting are the architects who designed it.
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In 1924, a “prairie style” bandstand was built in the lake and connected by a short bridge.It was designed by the architect team of Ida Annah Ryan and Isabel Roberts
Several photographs and linen postcards depicting the bandstand can be found in the collection of the Orange County Regional History Center.
Pam Schwartz, executive director of the Orange County Regional History Center, said the bandstand looked much different than it does today.
“You know, I think sometimes when people walk around Lake Eola, they get so used to the shells there that people don’t even consider that there’s something else out there, and there is,” Schwartz said. “It’s a really cool building that sits on the water and looks funky.”
Ryan and Roberts won the design competition and built the bandstand. They beat more than a dozen other architects to win the award.
“Lake Eola has always been an iconic location in the heart and soul of the community. For them to have such a striking structure right in front of them is astounding.”
Greg Stock is with the nonprofit Orlando Architecture Foundation. Ida Annah Ryan and Isabel Roberts were designing homes and businesses in Central Florida at a time when architecture itself was a new discipline.
“I was very surprised when I first saw these,” Stocker said, looking at vintage pictures of the bandstand. “This is unusual. There are very few bandstands in the water. Usually, they are in the center of the park.”
Stock said Roberts and Ryan were part of the first generation of female architects.
They settled in central Florida, taking advantage of the then-burgeoning new frontier.
“There were only four women owning construction companies in the United States at the time,” Stock said. “So it’s pretty groundbreaking, and the fact that they’re here blows my mind.”
Stock estimated that the bandstand was probably located between the present Swan Boat Pier and the current bandstand.
“If you look at the photo here, you’ll see there’s a little bump on the shore that leads to the bridge,” Stocker said, looking at the photo. “We have an aerial survey photo from the 1950s that shows a small white square almost next to where the bandstand is now.”
Spectators will watch from the shore. In the 1960s it was demolished when the current larger band shell was built. “
If the bandstand looks like something designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, there’s a reason for that.
Isabel Roberts worked for Wright in his Chicago studio for 12 years.
Ryan also has the prestigious credentials of being the first woman to earn a master’s degree in architecture from MIT.
The two designed homes in Orlando and Winter Garden, but the largest complex can be found in St. Cloud.
Isabel Roberts’ mother and sister live in the area. She moved there in 1918 after Frank Lloyd Wright closed his practice in Chicago. “
Notable buildings include: People’s Bank Building, Penn Hotel Building, Fisk Funeral Home and Veterans Memorial Library.
“These women need to be remembered because they were pioneers in the construction industry,” Stock said.
“I think what we can learn from the stories of Ida Anna Ryan and Isabel Roberts is that there have been some incredible women doing incredible things for a long time,” Schwa Ci said. “People who were inspiring, people who were important, people who had an impact on the fabric of Central Florida today. Even though they were working at the time.”
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