What? City has no plans for space where the Southern Bell building once sat?

Started by mtraininjax, June 20, 2012, 06:27:42 AM

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mtraininjax

June 20, 2012, 06:27:42 AM
No plans and counting for the space to be vacated by construction crews on the old Southern Bell building space? Nice to know that Mayor Peyton's administration thought so little of the 1913 constructed building that would have been 100 next year. So now, no one in the City has a plan for the space. So I cannot wait for the pocket park of the future, or perhaps an expensive parking deck or as we see across from the new courthouse, weeds in a field?

QuoteAfter spending millions of dollars to buy the old Southern Bell Building and tear it down in 2003, Jacksonville doesn't have a plan for how to use the land in the heart of downtown.

The city purchased the six-story building, which dated back to 1913, for $3.2 million while acquiring land for the new county courthouse complex. But nothing was ever built on the Southern Bell parcel, one city block in size at the corner of West Adams and Julia streets.

Today, the leftover property is mainly dirt and gravel, occupied by temporary construction trailers used by contractors working on the courthouse.

The property is a prime spot for new development, said Terry Lorince, executive director of Downtown Vision, a nonprofit that represents downtown property owners and advocates for more businesses and residences in the core.

"It would be great to see anything built there that would activate downtown," Lorince said. "If that's residential, if that's a school, if that's an office building â€" anything that brings people downtown."

Emily Lisska, executive director of the Jacksonville Historical Society, said it's a shame the building was torn down. She said completion of the county courthouse could have pumped new life into the building for use by law firms and legal-related businesses.

She said the city has preserved historic buildings such as turning the old St. James Building into City Hall, but it's also let historic structures fall by the wayside.

"The city of Jacksonville has been the best friend and the worst enemy to preservation and saving our historic buildings," she said. "It's as simple as that."

Paul Crawford, acting director of the city's Office of Economic Development, said a decision on the land will be up to the Downtown Investment Authority proposed by Mayor Alvin Brown.

The City Council is still considering Brown's proposed creation of an appointed board that would focus solely on downtown development.

The old Southern Bell Building wasn't in the way of either the original design or the final design for the courthouse that just opened.

But at one time, the city expected the Southern Bell property could become the site of a new First Court of Appeals annex in Jacksonville. Northeast Florida lawmakers secured state funding to build a $16 million, 70,000-square-foot annex to the Tallahassee-based appeals court.

But in 2001, the Florida Supreme Court called the annex unneeded and said the money should instead help close a state budget shortfall.

The site became part of an eight-block campus that includes the old federal courthouse, which will be renovated for use by the State Attorney's Office.

Jacksonville Bar Association President Michael Freed said he'd like the city to use the former Southern Bell site for a judicial-related building. He said that some ideas to consider would be a downtown annex for Florida Coastal School of Law or an agency that has a critical role in the judicial branch.

"That would certainly make sense rather than putting some use there that doesn't serve that core function," Freed said. "Obviously, that's subject to budgets and economics and everything else, but if I had a magic wand, it [the property] would be put to use in the administration of justice."

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-06-20/story/what-plans-leftover-land-near-duval-courthouse#ixzz1yKOjJaty
And, that $115 will save Jacksonville from financial ruin. - Mayor John Peyton

"This is a game-changer. This is what I mean when I say taking Jacksonville to the next level."
-Mayor Alvin Brown on new video boards at Everbank Field

simms3

#1
June 20, 2012, 06:33:58 AM
Real shame.  Any idea why no progress has been made through the CC on Alvin Brown's proposed DIA?
Bothering locals and trolling boards since 2005

Tacachale

#2
June 20, 2012, 08:57:19 AM
^Can't blame the CC on that one. The proposal was withdrawn for rewriting and so nothing further has been submitted.
Do you believe that when the blue jay or another bird sings and the body is trembling, that is a signal that people are coming or something important is about to happen?

Bridges

#3
June 20, 2012, 09:32:22 AM
It's amazing that we still continue with this idea of "tear it down and we'll figure out what to do with it later".  See old court house discussion.
So I said to him: Arthur, Artie come on, why does the salesman have to die? Change the title; The life of a salesman. That's what people want to see.

thelakelander

#4
June 20, 2012, 09:59:53 AM
Something tells me whatever happens with this site will never match what was once on it.....

"A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." - Muhammad Ali

tufsu1

#5
June 20, 2012, 10:07:19 AM
Quote from: Tacachale on June 20, 2012, 08:57:19 AM
^Can't blame the CC on that one. The proposal was withdrawn for rewriting and so nothing further has been submitted.

I thought it was resubmitted at the end of May?

Ralph W

#6
June 20, 2012, 10:11:05 AM
What's the big deal? It's already been developed to the highest standards.

It's a surface parking lot! What else would you do with downtown real estate?

Ocklawaha

#7
June 20, 2012, 10:16:42 AM
What a fantastic location for a parking garage! You know, the kind where cars from all across the city could come and commune together...

OCKLAWAHA

duvaldude08

#8
June 20, 2012, 10:27:47 AM
Typical Jacksonville. " If you tear it down, and they will come." And there are numerous properties that still sit empty using this theory. How about having a concreate plan in place before you bulldoze the existing property.
Jaguars 2.0

Dapperdan

#9
June 20, 2012, 10:57:35 AM
Like the article mentions. It would have been a  great lawyers office building or a extenson of the Law School.

vicupstate

#10
June 20, 2012, 11:06:34 AM
Why not use this land for the courthouse retention pond?     
"The problem with quotes on the internet is you can never be certain they're authentic." - Abraham Lincoln

fsujax

#11
June 20, 2012, 11:07:12 AM
Haven't you heard there is a mega highrise planned for that site. Oh wait, nevermind.

mbwright

#12
June 20, 2012, 12:10:05 PM
She said the city has preserved historic buildings such as turning the old St. James Building into City Hall, but it's also let historic structures fall by the wayside.

"The city of Jacksonville has been the best friend and the worst enemy to preservation and saving our historic buildings," she said. "It's as simple as that." 

its all about perspective.

What a new concept, ground floor retail, and business together. 

Debbie Thompson

#13
June 20, 2012, 01:39:11 PM
It isn't just downtown, either.  They tore down the old Horne's restaurant and motel, and the adjacent motel at I-95 and University for a new Home Depot, which never materialized.  It's now a weed strewn vacant lot too.

downtownjag

#14
June 20, 2012, 02:27:57 PM
It would take someone with real INTUITION to discover the right use for the site;)
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