Wait, is Lerp not actually happening?

[Tacachale]

Whatever it represents, the proposed 151-foot sculpture is the centerpiece of the recently awarded Landing replacement plans. But recent comments from the Downtown Investment Authority and a dive into the decision making process suggest it may not be in the cards at all.

Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/wait-is-lerp-not-actually-happening/

[pierre]

It will be shocking if it ends up anything more than Lenny's Lawn.

[Zac T]

I love having an overgrown and patchy grass lawn as the centerpiece of our downtown for years to come #jaxontherise

At least maintain it and put some benches or something out there in the meantime until (if) we actually do something with the space. It's literally a deadzone in its current state

[acme54321]

As someone who deals with contracts at the federal level these RFPs and stuff the city puts out seem a bit lost.  I mean how can you even do this without putting out a budget?  I mean, wtf is that?

[Charles Hunter]

Being a numbers geek, I looked at the two scoring sheets.
First, since the sheets clearly call for averaging Boyer's and Joseph's scores, why were their scores treated individually? And, recorded as averaged against a zero score of the other person?

Anyway, Boyer and Joseph split on their #1 - Boyer picking Perkins/Will, giving them 7 more points than her #2, the Agency group. Joseph reversed that, giving Agency only 2 more points than Perkins/Will. They agreed that the OLIN Partnership was #3, by a considerable margin.

If "DERP, The Iconic Art Piece" may not even be part of the design, and we take out that factor, which was worth 20 of the 115 points, Agency becomes the #1 on both rating sheets.  And by a slightly greater margin than P/W won with the DERP Factor.

[jaxjags]

Find some money to do this properly and proceed. Take money form the Bay Street Corridor project. Much better use for park. All evaluations such as these are biased by the evaluators ideas on what a park should encompass. Same with the statue. That is what art is supposed to do. It challenges the viewer to interpret what it means. That is what has been happening with this art. The "meaning is in the eye of the beholder". I would rather have this than some fancy bridge over a pond.

[thelakelander]

I believe funds for the Bay Street Project are transportation oriented and can't be used to fund public art.

[jaxjags]

I know. Was just being sarcastic that we can fund clown cars, but not a world class park.

[Downtown Osprey]

I love having an overgrown and patchy grass lawn as the centerpiece of our downtown for years to come #jaxontherise

At least maintain it and put some benches or something out there in the meantime until (if) we actually do something with the space. It's literally a deadzone in its current state

I agree. God knows how long before anything permanent goes in place there. Maybe have some pop-up shops, routine programming. Something, anything that can drive some foot traffic.

[jaxoNOLE]

If "DERP, The Iconic Art Piece" may not even be part of the design, and we take out that factor, which was worth 20 of the 115 points, Agency becomes the #1 on both rating sheets.  And by a slightly greater margin than P/W won with the DERP Factor.

Not only that, but since P/W centered their design around the art, you'd have to imagine its omission would negatively impact their score in other areas. Wouldn't "Innovation and Creativity" of the design take a hit? "Integration of Art, Landscape, and Programming in a buildable design" -- absent art, certainly that gets docked. Not to mention, you're left with a large hole in the park that was meant to be the focal point of the entire project.  I'm not even getting into the merits of the statue design, but something has to fill that space.

As someone who deals with contracts at the federal level these RFPs and stuff the city puts out seem a bit lost.  I mean how can you even do this without putting out a budget?  I mean, wtf is that?

It's ironic that bidders were scored on the "Understanding of Permitting Requirements, Scope and Design Requirements" when there was no budget provided. It seems the DIA wasn't even clear on the requirements. Heading into this thing, it seemed like the DIA had confidence there would be support to proceed on the timetable they laid out. Clearly, that was not the case, and we have more fancy renderings headed out to pasture. Maybe a "renderings graveyard" could be the uniquely Jacksonville art piece? Cute little headstones, one for each fizzled idea, and a large obelisk for Lot J? It'd be pretty meta to pay homage to all the dead Landing renderings at the site of the dead Landing.

[vicupstate]

Maybe a "renderings graveyard" could be the uniquely Jacksonville art piece? Cute little headstones, one for each fizzled idea, and a large obelisk for Lot J? It'd be pretty meta to pay homage to all the dead Landing renderings at the site of the dead Landing.

I think you may have hit on something there.

The only problem I see is that 7 acres (or whatever it is) might not be enough space.

[fsu813]

I've heard Ms. Boyer mention that fundraising would be necessary to fund the art center piece. That may not be in an official release, but it hasn't been a secret.

Find some money to do this properly and proceed.

Wish I remembered who exactly, but I believe that in the first Parks & Quality of Life special committee meeting, someone of note inferred that part of the $100 million designated for parks should be used to improve one of our public spaces into a world class center piece park. I assumed he meant Riverfront Plaza.

[heights unknown]

"FIND SOME MONEY TO DO THIS PROPERLY AND PROCEED;" Amen!!! I understand what's going on, but what I don't understand is the feeling that I get from them of just "giving up" and not even trying to either get something cheaper and affordable there, or siphon money from other sources (if we can) to fund one of these selected 3 projects for Riverfront Plaza (btw I like that name); if we can't get the #1, then take another look at #2 and #3. Curry is really beginning to worry me and work my nerves simultaneously.

[heights unknown]

Something tells me this is a money thing, the City doesn't have the money (now and of late), and Shad Khan has something to do with the City not being able to commit to this project/development. I could be wrong, and, I could be right; and...if it's not Khan, it's somebody or something that has siphoned money away and now the City cannot and does not want to commit to this project. Could be.......

[jaxlongtimer]

How can the City find tens or hundreds of millions for Khan's self-interested projects or the doomed-to-fail U2C project and not something like this that would be iconic for the City and of use by most everyone living here?  I would suggest if the community wanted it that the City could find the dollars as it does for anything the Mayor wants.  It's all about priorities.

Also, was this decided based on votes by only two people?  I thought there were at least a couple of more involved.  Seems that a major decision like this would be in front of a decent sized committee representing a range of community perspectives.  It should also have followed a few community town halls with presentations by the bidders and a public Q & A.

I would also flip this around and ask what the heck Curry expects to get for the funds he budgeted.  How did he come up with his numbers?

It all seems so arbitrary, lacking transparency and poorly executed.  Mimics Lot J in many ways.