The Jacksonville Civic Council's Plans For Downtown

[Timkin]

Here comes the ole broken record again.......


ABSOLUTELY NO MORE WRECKING/DESTROYING  ANYTHING HISTORIC. ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!

I think we could get a group of 6th graders to do a better downtown plan.  This is friggin  Ridiculous!

[rainfrog]

This is my humble open-source-Photoshop-alternative fix (click for full-size)



Images sources: Google Maps & Google Street View


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I'm a fan of the City Hall Annex. I have one of the souvenir books that were handed out at its grand opening, and though it is a product of its time, I think it's actually a sleek and elegant design. Also, why is there no love for the building behind the Herkimer Block? What is it called? It's lovely, and perfect for retail!

[duvaldude08]

? Im lost. Is this a joke? The main thing I have a problem with is the building another parking garage? That has pissed me off. I think I could live with everything else....to a degree.

[duvaldude08]

Is there any way to send this tread to the Civic Council or the mayoral candidates before any more destruction is done on this great city's downtown?  I am just afraid that it might be too late, but I guess your never know.  I mean this site is one of the most revolutionary sites to change the thinking of Jacksonville, but it is the people from the Civic Council who needs to read these comments more then us!
 

I believe MJ has set up a meeting with Don Shea....add to this that many of us have been closely engaged with the Mayoral candidates.

I know this plan has flaws....but don't get too worked up...it is obvious from the write-up and the graphics that this is very preliminary.

Yeah I feel you. We will have a mayor and city council. If we get the right leadership in, some of these things will not fly.

[thelakelander]

I'm a fan of the City Hall Annex. I have one of the souvenir books that were handed out at its grand opening, and though it is a product of its time, I think it's actually a sleek and elegant design. Also, why is there no love for the building behind the Herkimer Block? What is it called? It's lovely, and perfect for retail!

I love your sketch, Rainfrog.  The building behind the Herkimer Block also dates back to the early 1900s.  However, I didn't have the name or an image of it to put in the article the other day.  Yet, you're right in that it should be preserved as well.

Exhibition Hall

From what I can tell, the civic council appears to believe dealing with the parking lot over the river is something expensive they don't want to do right a way.  In this event, I'd suggest an initial 100,000 square foot exhibition hall on site of the current courthouse, with street level retail lining the southside of Bay.  For the time being, they could keep the parking lot in place (reduces the need for a parking garage) and use it to expand the hall when the time comes.

City Hall Annex

I'm beginning to fall on the line of preservation in this case as well.  Its solid and publicly owned, which would make an adaptive reuse project more feasible than building something of similar size from the scratch.  The tower portion could be used for a mix of uses (residential, hotel, office, etc.) and the front could be demolished and replaced by retail/entertainment uses along Bay.  On the surface, I'd say going this route would be cheaper than the civic council's layout, yet add more exhibition hall space, preserve room for future expansion and better integrate with the surrounding context.

[jcjohnpaint]

If this was the plan I would be delighted.  Great idea Lake!

[jcjohnpaint]

I would like to share a link to a riverfront project being proposed in Pittsburgh.  I really feel that Pittsburgh is a city getting it right in terms of it's downtown and infill:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11046/1125509-53.stm

[Bativac]

Is there any way to send this tread to the Civic Council or the mayoral candidates before any more destruction is done on this great city's downtown?  I am just afraid that it might be too late, but I guess your never know.  I mean this site is one of the most revolutionary sites to change the thinking of Jacksonville, but it is the people from the Civic Council who needs to read these comments more then us!
 

I believe MJ has set up a meeting with Don Shea....add to this that many of us have been closely engaged with the Mayoral candidates.

I know this plan has flaws....but don't get too worked up...it is obvious from the write-up and the graphics that this is very preliminary.

I think we all understand that this is preliminary - that is why we're concerned. The destruction of historic buildings shouldn't enter the equation at all. When it pops up this early, it shows that it's already at the forefront of someone's mind.

"Y' know, if we just tore down that building, we could put in a parking garage!"
"Sounds great! Git 'ur done!"

SEVERAL DAYS LATER

"We got this block of historic buildings knocked down in record time!"
"Oh - you guys never got the call. The parking garage thing is on hold. There's no money for it in this year's budget. We got three bridges falling into the river that need patching."
"PAVE 'ER OVER, BOYS!"

[Captain Zissou]

I agree that a retrofit of the Annex is a good move.  Look to the CSX building to see what a few color changes can do to modernize a building.  Sure, it won't be an all glass modern building, but it will work just fine and it will save us millions.  I agree that the first few floors need to interact with Bay street and should be completely redone.  If the bottom of the Annex is done well, the courthouse site can be as minimal as possible as far as amenities go in order to maximize exhibition hall space.  A couple bathrooms, a few staging areas, but otherwise uninterrupted space.

The most important thing with this whole development is maximizing retail and entertainment frontage on Bay street. Additionally, allow people to utilize convention center parking facilities for free after 8 pm, unless the event at the center requires every single space.  Part of what has helped Bay street is the giant lot on the river.

[Lunican]

In my opinion, the civic council is is a strong group of local business leaders, however no one would ever ask them to take a shot at cancer research and expect any tangible results. This is the group that needs to raise money, promote awareness and gain community support, not get involved in the molecular bioscience.

[Dashing Dan]

I can't see where this report does any good for anybody interested in downtown.  There are better sets of ideas out there, better prototypes, and better forums (like the mayoral election and this blog).  If we could ignore the civic council, maybe they would just go away and give the rest of us a chance to fix so many of the things that those people have helped to break over the past 20+ years.

[thelakelander]

Would it be possible to work with the civic council to teach them about the true issues holding downtown's growth back?  Are they open to ideas of those who are better educated in this arena yet can't afford or aren't invited to join the group?  If our business leaders take a stronger advocating position and leave the planning/implementation to those who understand urban environments and their historic growth and revitalization characteristics, we'll be well on our way to getting things moving in the right direction.

[thelakelander]

So how do we show them they've been eating the oatmeal that has led to the downtown environment we see today?

[blizz01]

PARC Management wants to jazz up Downtown Jax

A corridor of shopping, dining and entertainment between the Jacoby Symphony Hall and EverBank Field is one proposal to revitalize Downtown Jacksonville.
Jacksonville-based PARC Management LLC, which owns and operates theme parks throughout the U.S., proposed the mixed-use project after being approached by the Jacksonville Civic Council in November, said Randy Drew, PARC chairman and CEO.
The plan includes the SkyQuest, which Drew described as a “powered zipline.” Users would be put into a harness and “fly along a predetermined path” Downtown.
The proposal was included in a report that the council’s Northbank Redevelopment Task Force released Feb. 8.
The proposed development would cost more than $40 million, Drew said, and is “very preliminary.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2011/02/14/parc-management-wants-to-jazz-up.html

[Ocklawaha]

So how do we show them they've been eating the oatmeal that has led to the downtown environment we see today?

More like drinking the Cool-Aid.

OCKLAWAHA