Riverfront green space mulled to help downtown Jacksonville

[Pinky]

I'm all for a green space on the north bank, but it's goofy to put it down there where nobody goes already..  Using the old courthouse and annex site makes so much more sense, given it's proximity to the actual core.  Putting more stuff down behind the solid waste station, by the jail and the Maxwell House plant is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of.  Nobody goes to Met Park because it's so far east of town, the shipyards site is just as bad.

If this city had a clue they would work with private investors like, oh say, INTUITION, or a residential developer to use the shipyard site for housing or business, and make the courthouse site a beautiful riverside park in the part of the city where people actually GO.

[ben says]

^ Agree

[thelakelander]

One thing I'd hate to see is too much focus being put on creating new green space along the riverfront at the expense of needed immediate improvements in other Northbank spaces.  For example, given the surrounding land uses, an interactive fountain would work better at the Landing courtyard or Hemming, moreso than the courthouse and Shipyards sites.  The same goes for a children's playground, which would be a good addition to Hemming, given its proximity to the library and museum.  This doesn't mean that it wouldn't hurt to have these types of urban amenities in several places.  However, the reality of our funding strategies and focus, suggest that won't happen in the short term.  Thus, what's the criteria we'll use to create implementation strategies and priorities?

[dougskiles]

For an urban park to return maximum monetary value to its citizens (in the form of property taxes) there needs to be the potential for high density development along the perimeter.  NYC's Bryant Park is a frequently used example of public-private partnership success.  A large part of that success is the Business Improvement District encompassing 8.1 million sf of office space surrounding Bryant Park.

I hope that someday we have the type of development on the north side of the shipyards to support a world class park.  The current reality is that we have a jail, coffee manufacturing plant and sports complex.  Only one of those uses is paying property taxes.

My vote is that we preserve the shipyards for future park space (and some integrated private development) and focus current dollars a little closer to the center of downtown.  The old courthouse site would be a good place to start.

Investing heavily in a park that won't be integrated into the surrounding area is no different than a business investing in a bunch of equipment that has no potential revenue from customers to return a profit.

[Noone]

Doug, You were there. The kickoff of the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge. In attendence from the city council was Don Redman and Jim Love. Both Navy Veterans and former and current chairs of the Jacksonville Waterways Commission.

What was one of the primary recommendations of the IBM'ers? Naval Ship Museum. Our city council originally sponsored a resolution. Not good enough. So council passed an ordinance 2010-675 with one amendment.

The project is moving forward and the location at this point appears to be the pier next to Berkman. Good or bad it's coming. So this 40 acre park will have a Navy ship.

[Jason]

Why would anyone be talking about new parks when the city can't even afford to cut the grass?!?!?!?!  Investment in what we already have should be the focus, not growing a budget that is currently having its throat cut due to lack of funding.

[Bativac]

Why would anyone be talking about new parks when the city can't even afford to cut the grass?!?!?!?!  Investment in what we already have should be the focus, not growing a budget that is currently having its throat cut due to lack of funding.

This is 10000% true - my wife and I were out today walking in a couple parks in San Marco, all of which were overgrown and suffering from a severe lack of maintenance. The city doesn't need more overgrown vacant lots.

The city should divide the space and let smaller businesses (like, maybe, Intuition) develop it in pieces. No big developer is going to rush in anytime soon and build on that site. Few people are going to use the park space, and given the money in the budget for park maintenance, it'll become an eyesore in short order.

I predict it will sit empty for years. Like Sax Seafood.