Last chance to see: the Landing is quietly coming down

[MusicMan]

Since it's coming down anyway, I do have the perfect plan for once The Landing is gone:

Make it an I 95 North and South Bound REST AREA. Place a Starbucks with 3 drive through lanes there, and plenty of shady picnic tables/benches. It will bring more traffic to that site than Toney Sleiman ever could, and will bring more economic activity to downtown
(with such a small expenditure) than anything the COJ has on the table right now.

[Kerry]

Anyone else see the irony in an attempt to reurban downtown calling a plot of grass a "front yard".  Talk about not getting it.  Even the language used is from the suburban mindset.

[thelakelander]

^It sounds exactly what it looks like. People who have no clue of what they are doing or how to really revitalize downtown, being in charge and blowing a load of public cash to set the area back by another decade.

[Kerry]

Honestly, do they see the urban core as nothing more than a single family home?

[thelakelander]

I think because of 50 years of continuous failure, many have bought into inaccurate local assumptions that revitalization is hard and that it cost an arm and a leg to pull off. When things are quite easy if we're willing to get out of our own way.

[mbstout]

Looks like the old "T H E   J A C K S O N V I L L E   L A N D I N G" letters have come down off the roof.
I guess they were salvaged.  Would be cool to know what they plans with those are.

[thelakelander]

^COJ kept the letters. No idea what they'll do with them.

[vicupstate]

^COJ kept the letters. No idea what they'll do with them.

What do you mean 'no idea'. They will sit in some warehouse and rust. The city sits on hundreds (thousands?)of properties and just lets them rot and overgrow. Surely, it will be no different. 

[Wacca Pilatka]

If anyone's interested in arranging donation of any Landing artifacts to the Historical Society, Groundwork, etc. you can call the relevant COJ department at 904-255-8762.  I've been indirectly involved in negotiating donation of the Landing's historical figure silhouettes from the food court to Groundwork for display along the Emerald Trail (though they may need some sort of weatherproofing before they can be installed outdoors, as I understand it).

[I-10east]

Here's some unfortunate close up carnage of what's left of the Landing.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/photo-gallery/photo-gallery-demolition-work-continues-at-the-jacksonville-landing

[BridgeTroll]

Sooo...  Not a good spot to watch the Boat Parade?  Perhaps in front of the Hyatt?  The entire "Front Porch" is a demolition zone 

[Keith-N-Jax]

Again, how did this happen and no protests from residents?

[Kerry]

Again, how did this happen and no protests from residents?

Because most people were indifferent about the Landing, and have been for 10 years or more.  There also seems to a collective "Who cares about downtown" mentality from a significant portion of the local population.

James Kunstler said it best - there simply aren't any places worth caring about.

[Snaketoz]

Watching the local coverage of the boat parade was very sad.  I'll always feel that the Landing could have been a very successful place.

[Kerry]

Watching the local coverage of the boat parade was very sad.  I'll always feel that the Landing could have been a very successful place.

When we lived at 220 Riverside we always walked across the street to watch it, but we didn't drive downtown to watch it this year.  The organizer said on the news that hundreds of people lined the river to watch.  If the crowd numbered in the hundreds then attendance was way down.

My wife read a few days ago that the Christmas tree was going to be at Hemming Park and her reaction was "are they kidding?"  I'm pretty sure that will be the typical local response.