Remembering The Hotel Robert Meyer

[tayana42]

From this discussion it's clear that JAcksonville has had poor leadership for quite some time.  Time to get serious about our new Mayoral election and pick a winner.

I agree with Stephen that we made a huge error when we drove the maritime industry from downtown.  In the 70's we had several cruise ships sail from the CSX building downtown.  Unfortunately, downtown is a bit too far from the sea and the bridges too low to allow any of the newer, larger cruse ships to pass under.

On the good news side, the city is about to complete work on a new public dock at the Riverside Arts Market.

[Dog Walker]

REPEAT WARNING!  REPEAT WARNING!  REPEAT WARNING!

No one "drove" the maritime industry out of downtown.  There was no lack of leadership that made it happen.  There was no plot for gentrification of our waterfront.  The old City Hall and County courthouse and old jail were built where they are in order to clean up a blighted, abandoned area.

The rapid containerization of freight in the '50's meant that the warehouses along the waterfront were no longer needed.  There was also no room for the large docks and cranes that are required for moving containers.  Logically, the post was moved to Tallyrand and later expanded to Blount Island.

Second, the cost of American labor first moved shipbuilding to other countries and then moved ship repair away as well.

[fieldafm]

I concur.
The days of Jacksonville being a riverport are over.  Jax is a seaport.

Large shoreline wharehousing facilities for dry goods is not an economically feasible model any longer.  Even Landmar's original plans with the Shipyards property was to construct cold storage facilities, which has a little bit different economic structure than dry goods or containerized units.  There are plenty of cold storage facilities on the Westside of town presently in fact.

That being said, bringing the pleasure boat maritime industry back downtown is critical.  The riverfront needs to be activated in a much more utiliatarian way than it is being used now.  Powerboats and hand launched boat facilities at RAM and the Hogans Creek Greenbelt need to return to the urban waterfront.

A good book for you to read on the subject is Jacksonville: Riverport Seaport.  Great history about the maritime industry in Jax since the Hugenots roamed the shores of what is now Duval County.

[Dog Walker]

A really good example of what a big marina can do for a downtown area is Charleston Harbor.  It's behind a barrier wall so is not exposed to the currents of the river.  There is a shuttle bus that runs from there into downtown where the shops and restaurants are.  The marina is jammed with transient boaters who bring in millions of dollars to the city every year.

Norfolk has the same arrangement and more marinas.

The Shipyards site just cries out for a big marina to draw some of the Waterways boaters up the river to town and on.  Marina Mile in Ortega is just too far away from downtown to have the same impact.