Drew Restoration Project

[thelakelander]

I'm not active on FB, but what has MJ said about Groundwork and Hogans Creek? Other than this thread, which anyone can sign up and post their opinions and comments, I haven't noticed an actual article on either in quite a while.

[TheCat]

MJ posed the following question with a link to the thread:

"How far afield has Groundwork Jacksonville gone from its funded purpose?"

Admittedly, a leading question.

[Tacachale]

LOL, imagine that.

[acme54321]

LOL, imagine that.

Shocking.   

[Captain Zissou]

An opinion can be fallible, which is the very definition of an opinion: a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.

I think the rather low brow responses on some of the offended parties personal FB pages pretty much absolves MJ of needing to apologize. 

[TheCat]

Are all questions leading...?

Plus one for Captain Zissou.

Their responses remind me of how Springfield residents respond to criticism, not well. They don't realize it but Groundwork is criticizing the OP of this thread not Metroj. OP should be reading Groundwork's "freaking" 15 daily facebook posts.

Facebook posts from Groundwork rarely exceed more than once per day, which makes me wonder if they are using their resources well.

Regardless of the number of posts (which is certainly not 15), Stephen's right, they're not responding to a legitimate question, which is, "are they out of scope?"

MetroJ asked Groundwork Jacksonville to respond to the issues raised in this thread. They referred Metroj to their facebook page for more information.

[Tacachale]

Come on, pearl clutching about "low brow responses" doesn't suit Metro Jacksonville. Laugh it off or move on.

[strider]

I believe some are frustrated by Groundwork Jacksonville due to the fact that it was mostly presented as a way to clean up Hogan's Creek.  Once formed, funded and staffed, it seems to mostly be about other things. Some interesting projects that would actually work towards the goal of a better Hogan's Creek were talked about so while the things the organization is doing are positives, some wonder what happened to what they thought was the original goal.

Groundwork Jacksonville stated purpose:

Groundwork Jacksonville is the city's primary non-profit specifically created to clean and redevelop Hogans Creek and convert contaminated land into parks, playgrounds, trails, and other public spaces hoping to recreate the "emerald necklace" championed by famed architect Henry Klutho in the early 20th Century.

Their stated initiatives:

Development of a bio-diversity corridor demonstration project on the S-Line
Reuse of brownfields for greenspace utilizing phytoremediation practices along the S-Line and Hogans Creek
Development of a neighborhood bioswale/ rain garden project plan as a storm water management demonstration project in Klutho Park and/or on city-owned vacant lots
Development of a neighborhood tree planting strategy to plant the right trees, in the right places for the right reasons
Plan and implement an open-air public market on A. Philip Randolph Boulevard to spur urban agriculture innovation

What they seem to be doing:

I personally find it a bit harder to see what they are doing today from their website than I think it should be.  It does seem that they have made good progress on the open air market on A Phillip Randolph and that they have made progress on the s-line proposals.

I guess I am personally wondering if this organization was brought here to do one purpose but when it was realized how difficult it would be to obtain the goal of a cleaned up Hogan's Creek, they found other directions to go.  Sort of stay on the fringe of the original purpose so that if the funding was based on that purpose, they can still use it but find lower hanging fruit to get some easier successes. Pretty standard modus operandi for public service non-profits.

This is just my personal opinion, not that of the editors of MetroJacksonville,  so feel free to correct me.  But from reading the info out here, hearing what was said when the organization was first being talked about, talking to others in the know and what I have seen from them, this is the issue as I see it.  They can't do what they were first brought here to do so do easier stuff.  Again, not bad just different from how things were once presented.

One more thing, Dawn,Nick and Bill, verbal comments against Metrojacksonville like posted on Facebook do more to prove the naysayers right than help your cause.  City of Jacksonville MCCD, Planning Department, SPAR Council are just a few "organizations" that have been "unfairly criticized" through the years but if you read what was posted on MJ you will soon realize that criticism wasn't unfair or unjust at all. Some people do not like the dirty laundry out there but frankly, that is the only way to facilitate change. And MJ has facilitated positive change, unlike many organizations and people who dislike MJ even existing.   

[strider]

As this thread was started to be about progress on the Drew;

Music, the roof has been repaired, walls pressure washed, and other misc prep work. My impression is that the passion project will progress as his priorities dictate, though with all the surrounding parcels now set for a large multi-family development, that may encourage movement one way or another.

From what I actually know:  The roof may have been "repaired" in some temporary fashion to try to stop the ongoing damage but not actually repaired. No one would do that until the foundation work was complete.  Some clean up was done and I also know that the volunteer neighborhood person who had adopted the drew to watch over is still doing that, perhaps more so than the owner.

The only way the Drew is not going to end up in a landfill is if some government backed organization takes it and converts it to some public use using the available tax credits and public funding or an individual with the proper means takes it on and doesn't care about ever getting a return on their investment. Something like Elena Flats at least offers the owners some kind of return while they wait for the area to slowly climb up in value to justify the cost of rehab but the Drew is a lot more difficult to justify due to being a large single family structure that will take almost as much to rehab as Elena Flats will.

As many know, the owners of Elena Flats are doing it, while the Drew is still sitting.  Good intentions are not enough, the means must be there and I fear the current owner of the Drew does not really have the means or we would have seen the foundation work progress by now as the costs are going up daily.

[drewshade]

As a resident of Jacksonville who resides and invests in Springfield. (If we live in Springfield, we all invest in it)  I started this thread because I was interested in progress of the Drew Restoration Project and Klutho Park as I am sure the majority of people who read this are.

I have no doubt about the passion of the gentleman who bought the Drew House. I also praise him for taking on such a financial  project when others were not willing to do so. However, he did initially have very aggressive goals for completion and restoration and even asked for public donations to complete his goals. I thought it was fair to ask for an update, when it seemed there was none. 

I feel the same way about Klutho Park and Groundwork Jacksonville ( with or without an S). They said that there was money set aside and specifically mentioned Klutho Park and Hogans Creek.  I think that the response on FB or whatever that was... is disgusting and immature, but not as disgusting as Hogans Creek, Klutho Park and Confederate Park. The humans not affiliated with GW that take time out of their schedules to plant trees, clean up trash, shovel dirt from sidewalk, remove human feces etc. are moving at faster pace than an "Organization" with millions of dollars.  If we didn't do that there is no reason that it shouldn't be declared a federal disaster zone.

At the end of the day, we all want progress. If you are asking for public funds, or make promises... Honor Them or simply update us by other means than FB. We all want to hear it from you and not from someone else.

[Bill Hoff]

They have updates on their website too.

http://www.groundworkjacksonville.org/

Come to the Feb 29th meeting.

[drewshade]

Thanks Bill and Everyone Else for all of the help! Much appreciated!

[PATSY/AUTUMN]

Anything new on restoration?  Has anyone spoken to Michael and got a definite idea of what his earliest plans are?  The house is failing daily, as everyone know.  Patchwork repairs are not going to save it.  Big thanks to Doug, who does his best to keep things from getting worse. 

[Bill Hoff]

I believe the substantial, visible work will begin in 2017. We'll see!

[PATSY/AUTUMN]

Let us hope it will be standing in 2017.