Fire Station 5

[Jdog]

Has anybody heard anything lately?

Rumor I have - gosh people are going to go nuts if true - surface parking.

My source is pretty credible.

[Debbie Thompson]

Well, naturally.  Because that's the way we roll.  That's what we do with cool historic buildings in Jacksonville. 

[aaapolito]

I still think it would make a great restaurant location. See http://www.chicagofirehouse.com/photo-gallery/#!prettyPhoto 

With the residential projects along Riverside, there will be plenty of possible patrons within walking distance. 

[Debbie Thompson]

Agree.  The city could be a hero if they moved that building and saved it. 

[Bridges]

I still think it would make a great restaurant location. See http://www.chicagofirehouse.com/photo-gallery/#!prettyPhoto 

With the residential projects along Riverside, there will be plenty of possible patrons within walking distance. 

There are a ton of reuses for Fire Stations around the nation.  They all look awesome too. 

But Surface parking lot would match the Fuqua development nicely.  Nothing like "revitalizing" an area with dead tactics. 

[JECJAX]

How about a new home for the Firehouse Subs that got burned out in Five Points ?  There would definitely be plenty of patronage there from the walkable businesses and new construction.

[JayBird]

All great ideas for reuse and there are many more, however I think the issue is that the building has to be moved in order to be saved because EverBank or Fidelity own the land now.  I am not 100% on this, but I believe that is the problem with preserving it.  Another great land swap deal orchestrated by the city no doubt.

[Dog Walker]

Everbank does not own that land or the building they are in.  They are renters.

[JayBird]

Okay, found it on Jacksonville.com and the land was given to Fidelity in a land swap deal with the City.  Obviously since this article is over 3 years old I assume Fidelity is not ready to move on whatever plans they have for the site, but when they do it seems it will be moving the building or watching it be torn down.

Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009
Jacksonville must move Fire Station 5 or demolish it
By Matt Galnor


The city has three months to figure out what to do with Station 5 on Riverside Avenue.

If Jacksonville leaders don’t come up with a plan to move old Fire Station No. 5 in the next three months, the nearly century-old building will succumb to the wrecking ball.

This deadline was inevitable, city and preservation leaders said Friday â€" part of a 2005 land swap between the city and Fidelity National Financial.

Fidelity notified the city last week  of its plans to demolish the building on Riverside Avenue and, according to the 2005 agreement, the city has three months to put a plan together to relocate it.

At least one advocate of saving the three-story brick structure says the looming deadline may jump-start efforts to get a deal done.

But the city doesn’t have a location for the building, or any money earmarked to pay for the move, said Misty Skipper, spokeswoman for Mayor John Peyton.

Moving the building would cost about $600,000, according to city estimates done last year, and renovations could bring the tab to $2 million.

As part of the swap, Fidelity built a riverfront park and gave the city more land for the Northbank Riverwalk. In return, Fidelity obtained more land to expand its Riverside Avenue headquarters.

Fidelity doesn’t have any immediate plans for the fire station property, the company’s attorney, Paul Harden, said.

The Fire Department left the station in May 2008, moving about a mile away to a $2 million facility on Forest Street.

Today, more windows in the old firehouse are filled with plywood than glass.

The building is too big to fit under a slew of overpasses and bridges, so, unless the building is split in half, it would be restricted to the Brooklyn neighborhood where it now sits vacant.

Jerry Spinks, president of the Jacksonville Historical Society, said the old firehouse is key to the historical identity of the neighborhood.

Built in 1910, it is on a list of Jacksonville’s 12 most endangered historic buildings. It qualifies for local and national historic registries, but Peyton was against seeking the designation in 2007 for fear of breaking the agreement with Fidelity.

If a future owner was granted the designation, tax credits are available to supplement renovation costs, Spinks said.

The city has been in several discussions about the building over the years, but has never been able to reach a deal, Skipper said.

Spinks contends the building, once moved, could be a good fit for a business looking for a signature building that would be easily recognized by the public.

“If you and I were there, we wouldn’t have to tell many people how to find our building,” he said.



matt.galnor@jacksonville.com,

(904) 359-4550

http://m.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-12-06/story/jacksonville_must_move_fire_station_5_or_demolish_it

[urbaknight]

With all of that new developments going up in that area, Fire Station 5 should be reopened as Fire station 5 and once again serve the community. How far is the closest fire station now?

[Charles Hunter]

The New Fire Station #5 is about a mile west at 2433 Forest Street.

[JayBird]

With all of that new developments going up in that area, Fire Station 5 should be reopened as Fire station 5 and once again serve the community. How far is the closest fire station now?

I am not so sure about that, there are four stations within a 3-8 minute response time to the intersection of Riverside Avenue and Jackson Street:

Station 4 - 639 West Duval Street (@ Duval Street) 0.8 miles
Station 5 - 2433 Forest Street (south of Stockton Street) 1.2 miles
Station 10 - 1055 South McDuff Avenue (south of Roosevelt) 3.8 miles
Station 14 - 4242 Herschel Street 4.1 miles

Though adding another station would increase response times, it would also mean one of the other stations would be chopped as a result kind of nullifying adding another right now.

Speaking of, if the city had any sense they would take a page from us Yankees and make developers that add a certain number of new residences build a fire house, another set amount build a school, another bar a police substation. I don't know the proper terminology for it but it is quite common in the northeast.  This way the municipality doesn't get slammed for a need and have to find money to pay for improvements.  In cases where maybe the property owners land will not accommodate such things, the developer has to contribute to a special fund specifically for expansion of city services in that neighborhood.  It seems in Jax, if you want to build they bust out the checkbook and cater to you.  Then 5 years later say that they need to adjust the taxes for "recent development improvements"

[Dog Walker]

Jaybird, it's what are called "impact fees" and our City Council refuses to implement them.  They even keep trying to kill the mobility fee that goes for roads and other transportation infrastructure.  The developers and the NE Fla. Builders Association Rules here.

Funny, St. John's County has very high impact fees and they don't have any problem attracting builders and new homeowners because of their excellent school system.

[JayBird]

Jaybird, it's what are called "impact fees" and our City Council refuses to implement them.  They even keep trying to kill the mobility fee that goes for roads and other transportation infrastructure.  The developers and the NE Fla. Builders Association Rules here.

Funny, St. John's County has very high impact fees and they don't have any problem attracting builders and new homeowners because of their excellent school system.

Thanks, I had no idea what it was called.  Shame that every time someone tries to progressively advance Jacksonville it is like reinventing the wheel all over again.

[bill]

Jaybird, it's what are called "impact fees" and our City Council refuses to implement them.  They even keep trying to kill the mobility fee that goes for roads and other transportation infrastructure.  The developers and the NE Fla. Builders Association Rules here.

Funny, St. John's County has very high impact fees and they don't have any problem attracting builders and new homeowners because of their excellent school system.

It is called a TAX