Saying good bye to old courthouse

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Whatever ends up on the waterfront, please don't put some rink-dink naval ship there. Nothing against destroyers, mind you, but they aren't exactly the awesome attraction a carrier or battleship might be.

Amen. Had to look at the USS Yorktown in Charleston for god knows how long. Biggest waste of space I've ever seen.

You didn't look at it very well, Ben.   

[tlemans]

I think something in line with Pointe Orlando would work well in that space. Nice restaurants and a parking garage with retail would work well and give us something to do downtown.

[tlemans]

http://www.pointeorlando.com/

[Timkin]

I think something in line with Pointe Orlando would work well in that space. Nice restaurants and a parking garage with retail would work well and give us something to do downtown.

I have not seen Pointe Orlando.  Is this a sort of "Mini Town Center" type development?    That might be interesting .   A convention center on the site might be okay if it would in fact pay for itself once it is in place.

[tufsu1]

I think something in line with Pointe Orlando would work well in that space. Nice restaurants and a parking garage with retail would work well and give us something to do downtown.

and guess why Pointe Orlando works?  Lots of nearby hotels and a convention center

[tlemans]

Yes Pointe Orlando is like a mini St John's Town Center except is has a movie theater and is two stories. You are correct is does work because it has hotels and convention center nearby. I really believe it would work well in downtown Jacksonville. How can we go about suggesting this to the city planners?

[Debbie Thompson]

I think something in line with Pointe Orlando would work well in that space. Nice restaurants and a parking garage with retail would work well and give us something to do downtown.

and guess why Pointe Orlando works?  Lots of nearby hotels and a convention center

Not to mention nearby Mickey Mouse

[Pinky]

Just wondering if anyone has heard anything with regard to the future plans for the old Courthouse?  As a Churchwell Lofts resident, I'm keenly interested in the building(s) not being allowed to simply fall into further disrepair.  Has our Stealth Mayor Alvin Brown and/or his merry band of Largely Unseen Administration Peoples actually done anything to plan for this amazing property's future?  While I know that demolition is sort of an unpopular term here on MetroJax, I really think that it would be difficult if not impossible to repurpose these buildings into anything else, and to leave more "dead" buildings in the heart of Jax isn't really any sort of real solution. 

Given the proximity to the river and RiverWalk, the Landing and Shipyards, my personal belief is that the old Courthouse and Annex should be salvaged for their more valuable materials (there's a ton of marble and granite, and loads of recyclable brick) to help offset their demolition costs, and the area turned into the centerpiece of a riverfront park which would include the shipyards, the river walk, Metropolitan Park and the Stadium district.  The costs of doing so are minimal as compared to building a Convention Center that would then be handed over to a private company to be operated.  (The current operators of the Hyatt are definitely not the folks to run such an operation anyway; just take a good look at what they've done to the Hyatt..)  Building a recreational destination like a park, on the other hand, provides a reason for folks in the suburbs to come downtown.  Hell, maybe even throw in a dedicated Food Truck "Food Court" too!  I know that doing so would definitely help to revitalize the now struggling East Bay Entertainment District.

Jacksonville definitely would benefit from having a larger, more "attractive" Convention Center, but I believe that expanding and enhancing the existing Prime Osbourne is the way to go.  It's much more accessible and visible from the interstate and it's already surrounded by tons of empty land.  Expanding at that site wouldn't rob the citizens of the use of a beautiful piece of riverfront property nor make the Prime Osbourne obsolete and derelict, as would be the case if a CC was built at the old Courthouse.  The Prime Osbourne is already served by the Skyway, which is an underutilized asset which is screaming for a "purpose", and which already runs to existing hotels on both the North and South Banks. 

Thoughts?

Pinky out.

[mtraininjax]

Has our Stealth Mayor Alvin Brown and/or his merry band of Largely Unseen Administration Peoples actually done anything to plan for this amazing property's future? 

Considering how the Mayor cannot add or CFO Belton for that matter, I'd say this is really not at the top of the pecking order for the 2012-2013 budget year. The Mayor and Belton have to find a way to locate the 7.2 million they left out of the budget for next year.  But he did not raise taxes either! Woop Woop!

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-08-09/story/jacksonville-mayors-proposed-budget-contains-5-million-math-error

“It isn’t any prettier than it looked coming in,” said Finance Committee Chairman John Crescimbeni. “It’s going to get more ugly.”

Crescimbeni said the Finance Committee needs to know by next week how the administration proposes to offset the $7.2 million gap.

[Debbie Thompson]

Pinky, I think an empty building is better than another empty lot.  And do we really need more empty space along the river?  We have plenty at the shipyards site and Metro Park, also not used to full potential. 

[Pinky]

I'm not advocating more empty space, I'm advocating a riverfront chain of parks.  East Bay is dying, and as a resident of East Bay I think that a park would do more to help our neighborhood (and all of downtown) than more empty, obsolete buildings. 

[JFman00]

I'm not advocating more empty space, I'm advocating a riverfront chain of parks.  East Bay is dying, and as a resident of East Bay I think that a park would do more to help our neighborhood (and all of downtown) than more empty, obsolete buildings.

Seconded for an actual waterfront, urban park.

[Debbie Thompson]

Isn't that what Metro Park, Friendship Fountain and the river walks are? Let's maximize their potential before we create more vacant land.

[mtraininjax]

The City needs to share their vision of what East Bay will be over the next 10 years. My bet is no one down there has a clue.

[tufsu1]

Isn't that what Metro Park, Friendship Fountain and the river walks are? Let's maximize their potential before we create more vacant land.

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