Ramon's Rainbow Room

Allene D. Holt was born on July 20, 1913, in Hartford, Connecticut. From the age of four, she worked in show business. During the 1920s and 1930s, she was a dancer and later became a straight "man" for Abbott and Costello. In 1942, she married Donald W. Holt. Together, they worked and traveled throughout the country running concessions for professional sports, including football, horse racing, and jai alai.Source: Allene D. Holt Obituary, Florida Today, 2013

The Holts came to Cocoa Beach in 1956. At that time, they opened Ramon's restaurant, located at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Florida State Road A1A (SR A1A) in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Ramon's was known as the "Toast of the Coast," and Allene was considered the "hostess with the mostess."

The restaurant was where many famous dignitaries, politicians, newscasters, and the seven original astronauts dined and were entertained for the next 20 years. Ramon's was a Golden Spoon Award restaurant, featuring three dining rooms, two cocktail lounges, and catering facilities for private parties. It was located six miles from Cape Kennedy.

The Mercury Seven Connection

The postcard for the original Ramon's restaurant displayed the flight statistics of each Mercury Seven astronaut on the front, along with information about Surveyor I. The Mercury Seven astronauts honored were Scott Carpenter (1925–2013), Gordon Cooper (1927–2004), John Glenn (1921–2016), Gus Grissom (1926–1967), Wally Schirra (1923–2007), Alan Shepard (1923–1998), and Deke Slayton (1924–1993).

In Cocoa Beach, Ramon's Restaurant was famous for prime ribs of beef and a unique Caesar salad. The entrance was filled with space memorabilia, and astronauts frequented the establishment regularly.Source: Space Coast Daily, June 2013

Change of Ownership

Donald W. Holt died in 1967. Allene continued to run the restaurant after Don's death. She later sold Ramon's to Bernice and Ronnie Porter, who had it until late 1984.

The First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Cocoa, Cocoa Beach Branch, was known to residents as the "Glass Bank." It was designed by noted Sarasota School architect Reginald C. Knight. Construction began in 1960 and was completed in 1961. The building officially opened in April 1962.

The Glass Bank was a Mid-Century Modern structure of glass, steel, and concrete that stood out on the barrier island community of Cocoa Beach both because of its height and because of its elegant Space-Age design. With a construction cost exceeding $750,000 ($6.1 million in today's dollars), the Glass Bank would have been an impressive structure for a larger city. The 1960 U.S. Census revealed the community had yet to surpass 3,500 residents.Source: UCF ChronoPoints

The bank's 4.5 floors of 20,000 square feet offered mixed-use commercial space: the savings and loan on the ground floor, a mezzanine, two floors of office space, and a restaurant on the top floor.

The Sky Room (1962–1963)

When the building opened in April 1962, the top floor had a restaurant called the Sky Room. Guests could enter and watch space launches from nearby Cape Canaveral. However, the building had a major flaw: there was no elevator to the upper levels, which ultimately led to the Sky Room closing permanently in 1963.

The Sky Room had a skywalk that patrons could step out onto, which wrapped all the way around the exterior, and diners could watch a launch from Cape Canaveral. With no elevator, it was an arduous journey for freight and customers to the penthouse.Source: Abandoned Explorers

In 1963, an express elevator was installed on the exterior of the building, and Ramon's Rainbow Room opened in the former Sky Room space. It was a restaurant and a nightclub, known for cocktails, good food, and jazz music. It was founded by Dan (Donald) and Allene Holt, owners of the already established Ramon's restaurant.

The Rainbow Room offered fine dining and expansive views of the Atlantic Ocean, along with performances by many of the era's Las Vegas headliners. It was a popular place with live music and 360-degree views of Cocoa Beach. National politicians, astronauts, and Hollywood stars regularly gathered there, drawn by its great-tasting food and atmosphere.Source: UCF ChronoPoints; Abandoned Florida

The 1965 Expansion

In 1965, the Rainbow Room initiated a significant modification to the building by extending the restaurant's walls to the edge of the white arches that had provided patrons an opportunity to watch Cape launches from the observation skywalk that encircled the fourth floor. This was done to accommodate a need for additional seating.

Closure and Aftermath

The significant reduction of NASA's budget following the successful completion of Project Apollo's initial lunar landing in 1969 impacted businesses throughout Brevard County, including Cocoa Beach. Vacancies began to appear on the Glass Bank's second and third-floor offices, which had maintained full occupancy during the building's first decade of operation.

In 1970, Ramon's Rainbow Room closed. That same year, Marby's Rainbow Room opened in the same space. Marby's proved unpopular and closed in 1972. No restaurant would ever occupy the Glass Bank's 4th floor again.

In 1983, attorney Frank Wolfe purchased the top floor of the building, adding a windowless penthouse, and converted the building into a brutalist style by reinforcing the corners of the building with concrete. The penthouse was expanded to the perimeter of the building, and the skywalk was thus removed.

In the late 1980s, due to the savings and loan crisis, The First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Cocoa was declared insolvent and was immediately closed by regulators. First Federal was the last original tenant at the Glass Bank. The building's last tenants were Huntington Bank on the first floor, an Atlantic Nautilus fitness center on the upper floors, and Frank Wolfe in the penthouse.

Frank Wolfe's Death & Demolition

According to the Brevard County Medical Examiner's Office, Frank Wolfe, 82, died from a self-inflicted gunshot on the Glass Bank property in February 2014. Following a year-long dispute about what to do with the building, a three-judge appellate court panel affirmed that Wolfe owed millions of dollars for assessments, fees, and repairs to majority owner Joseph Yossifon.

In January 2014, the condo association signed an agreement with Cocoa Beach officials, allowing the city to declare the structure a nuisance, demolish it, clear the site, and then have the owners pay back the costs of the demolition within three years. Lakeland-based Crusader Demolition demolished the Glass Bank in 2015.Source: Space Coast Daily; Abandoned Florida

After the restaurant years, Allene volunteered and later became the reference librarian for Cocoa Beach Public Library for much of the 1980s. She also did volunteer work for the Joe Realino Memorial Fund, established in 1969 to help and assist workers in the hospitality industry in Brevard County who were injured, ill, and unable to work. The fund helps these individuals pay rent, utilities, and groceries during their time of need. She also volunteered her services at Temple Beth Shalom.

Allene D. Holt died on Tuesday, September 24, 2013. Those who knew her well would refer to her as "a real class act." When she wasn't working or volunteering, she enjoyed quiet times with her family and her cats. Music, reading, and traveling were some of her passions.Source: Allene D. Holt Obituary, Florida Today, 2013

Only two specific menu items have been confirmed in published sources for Ramon's: prime ribs of beef — confirmed as a signature dish — and a unique Caesar salad — confirmed as a house specialty. The restaurant was also generally described as being known for "cocktails, good food, and jazz music" at the Rainbow Room location, and "great food and atmosphere" across multiple sources. No full menu, recipe, or additional specific dish names have been located in any publicly available archive.Source: Space Coast Daily, June 2013