Neurology & Neurosurgery Associates
Structure 11 (B2)
50 2nd Street SE
Year Built 1986
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Tour Narrative
Exiting the front of the Colonial Bank, turn left on Central Avenue, then one block and right on 2nd Street. From your vantage point on the right shoulder of 2nd Street, the Neurology & Associates building is the two-story on your left. Here you have a great view of two buildings built by the Taxdals, this one and the one-story Central Florida MRI Center to your right.
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Dr. David Taxdal humorously said he and his wife Lucia "built three Gene Leedy buildings and lived to tell about it." The first, in 1975, was a small medical office on Central Avenue that has since been significantly modified. But after a decade of practicing there, Dr. Taxdal needed a bigger building. He also needed it to be configured to suit new advanced equipment and patient needs. Built in 1986 and now a very large practice, please respect this as a working clinic; the reception room is all you can see if you go inside.
But everywhere you look outside at this work of architecture, you see alternating movement and stillness. Shadows created by the sun on the cool white geometric forms play against the soft and vibrant greenery planted along the walls. Activity and restfulness ebb and flow with the changing light and your position.
The Taxdals told Leedy what they needed and he complied with their wishes while still retaining all the hallmarks of his work. On the exterior, balconies resting on double T beams are of note. Many of the doctor's offices have them.
Lucia appreciated Gene's respect of her wishes for some color in the structure, and they worked well together on the interiors. She used Marimekko fabrics with bold geometric prints that complimented the space much like abstract paintings. Lucia also complimented the interior space, and Leedy's use of it is described from her point of view:
"That's what makes the place work is the space. The space has such a strong influence on the way you feel and the way you live in a place. It's very spiritual to have that space. I think that enriches peoples' lives. It's not wasted space, it's space that expands peoples' lives."
Enriching lives is what doctors do, and Leedy's 20,000 square foot building worked well for Dr. Taxdal and his associates. So well, they built another. Diagonally across Avenue A and to your right is the nearby MRI Center.
