New downtown skatepark on the way. Where should it go?

[thelakelander]

I'll play the roll of devil's advocate.

1) - It's already an existing park, so it's already off the books. Parks are rarely eliminated and given up for private development. So in this case, you'd be adding life and positive activity to an existing public space.

2) - Urban kids and young adults skate too. Depending on the design, a park could have activity during the day and night. Jax probably wouldn't do it, but you could even put a retail kiosk/shipping container in the space for additional activity or revenue generation.

3) - It would only be exclusionary if designed to be exclusionary. To me a skate feature would be like sticking a basketball, volleyball or tennis court in a park. They don't make parks exclusionary. They add activity.

Overall, I think the outcome would be dependent on design. It doesn't have to be 100% concrete with a huge fence around it. In fact, I hope it would not.

[camarocane]

I've heard this park may be built across the street from RAM under the I95 bridge once the widening is
complete. Anywhere under a bridge would be ideal from a skating perspective.

[Keith-N-Jax]

I voted for Main Street, right now it's wasted space.

[RattlerGator]

KenFSU, 100% correct. Not even a close call.

[TPC]

I'll chime in. I grew up skating and still skate to this day. Main St park is a good option as well as a DIY spot. KenFSU, I'll address a few of your points.

1) It's taking potentially taxable property off the books.
Nope. It's currently not taxable and won't be for the foreseeable future. It's already a public park and will most likely stay that way for years as others have mentioned.


2) It's not the best use for the property.
Again, it's already a pubic park and will stay that way for a while. I'd rather see it become a skatepark/skate plaza.

3) It's exclusionary.
With your logic every sport/activity is exclusionary. You obviously don't know anything about skate culture, but it's not just for "little white boys". Also those "tikes" probably will be sticking around, spending money, and contributing to the overall vitality of downtown Jacksonville. How? By skating over to Chamblins or Burrito Gallery and buying lunch or dinner.

Speaking as a skater, to me it's very inclusive. Skating doesn't care about your economic background, color of your skin or religion... all it cares about is that you skate. Go to the next Go Skate Day and witness the diversity.

Downtown is pretty much a ghost town unless an event is going on so I'd love to see some vibrancy in the form of a skatepark downtown.

[KenFSU]

Stephen/Ennis, thanks for all of the info. Particularly in regards to the difficulty in reverting a public park back to private space for development, your past discussions on the issue, and the economic impact pieces. Really do like the layout of that urban skate park that you shared too, Ennis. I'm warmer to the idea if the park interfaces as nicely into the urban fabric as this one does. I still question whether it's the best long-term use for that property, but you guys have successfully convinced me that it's probably the best use right now. Might realistically be a while before there's a market for a major mixed-use development on that site.

Solid argument, fellas

[RatTownRyan]

^^Changing your viewpoint based on evidence and thoughtful discussion. All hope for humanity is not lost. lol

[KenFSU]

^^Changing your viewpoint based on evidence and thoughtful discussion. All hope for humanity is not lost. lol

"When the facts change, I change my mind." - John Maynard Keynes



Welcome, Ryan!