Oral Explosion Coming to San Marco

[Steve]

So was the Courthouse at one point.

[thelakelander]

Fair point.

[RiversideGator]

This is for RiversideGator
What do you consider good architecture in Jacksonville?
I have noticed that you think almost all the buildings that are talked about on this site are horrible..
I am NOT trying to be mean, start an argument or criticize your opinion, I am just curious.
I live in Avondale so I appreciate the architecture of our neighborhood and I know you do too, but I only know what you don't like.
Thanks

I prefer traditional, pre-World War Two architecture in its many forms.  It had character, exhibited craftsmanship, had proper detailing and proportions, was evocative of other eras, related to our history and heritage, lasted longer, and has had continuing appeal.  I do appreciate many structures constructed in the modern era too.  But many of the new ones going up in Jacksonville just do not make the cut IMO.  This is an example of one which does not meet muster.

[RiversideGator]

I would agree with your points, but add one thing:  Give the DDRB some teeth.  Some people come to the city with these god awful designs, and we say sure.  It's like we're the fat girl in her Senior Year without a date to the prom, and we go with whomever asks us.

Ya, but what really throws me for a loop is that our particular fat girl regularly gets asked out by Brad Pitt, and then tells him to F* off, preferring to go to the prom with no date instead. This idiot administration has recently run off a law school, a med school, and no doubt a gazillion other things that we probably don't even know about, from locating in our urban core.

Meanwhile, they gouge on parking enforcement and property taxes to the point where no corporation wants to locate there, and the ones who've traditionally been there continue to slowly trickle out. And of course the recent icing on the cake is, they finally get someone (Tony Sleiman) who's evidently dumb enough to try and tackle The Landing, and then they screw him to the point where he's inevitably going to back out of the deal and the place will continue to languish.

Seriously, WTF? I don't get it. It really is municipal suicide. I keep waiting for City Hall to relocate to one of Herb's office parks on Gate Parkway.

Nothing downtown will improve until we get that little twerp out of City Hall.  He is both in the tank for the southside and not bright enough to get much accomplished anyway (unless it benefits Daddy, of course).

[Doctor_K]

Bully!  Capital idea!

[JeffreyS]

If this is really for a Micky D's and a BK I would say it is as good as it gets.

[Ocklawaha]

Great photos Lakelander. The only before and after I have are in the area of LaVilla-Brickyard-JTA-McCoys Creek and the rail yards, showing before the freeway and "after" during the construction. Talk about purification of the land! This city never saw a bulldozer it didn't LOVE. Can you even tell which direction the camera was facing in my shots? Try and ID a single damn thing! HISTORY SUBLIME!



OCKLAWAHA

[ProjectMaximus]

Whew...

I feel like I just watched a Lifetime movie (not that I, uh, have ever seen one). This must be the hottest topic this site has ever seen...85 replies and the day isn't over yet...I think I've reached my word quota for reading in one day.

Glad Chris, Steve, and Lake seem to all be on the same page now. I understand Lake's original point about applying concepts from this building to all the suburban development throughout the city...things could be very different now. I definitely agree with Chris' seven steps to improving the core. Numbers 4 and 5 are the key catalysts to revitalization, and of course transit plays a role in helping all of that along.

I don't know much about architectural design, but the way I imagine this finished product, I suspect that in principle, it's as nice as a one-story fast food joint is gonna get in a suburban environment. And I'm guessing the bldg itself won't be called Oral Explosion? That's just the developer?

BTW...one thing we can all agree on...after the gators win tonight they deserve to be national champs? 

[ChriswUfGator]

Watching the game right now, with my fingers crossed.

[Ocklawaha]

FOOTBALL?

WOW WHAT A GAME! Left me high on the hog... and making calls to Oklahoma until 2 AM! HA HA!

My formula for fun goes like this:

Ocklawaha raised in Ortega - Jacksonville, in the Oligocene period.

In the late Pleistocene Period, I attend OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY (The Cowpokes)

This year, while eating popcorn and drowning in two bottles of Rebel Yell, The University of Oklahoma (The Sooners {*1.note}) handed my school our ass in our first winning season in memory. They even defiled our new T. Boone Pickens Stadium with their riff-raff.

OCKLAWAHA NOW LIVES AT HOME IN JACKSONVILLE FLORIDA.

HE STILL HATES #1 OU.

OCKLAWAHA'S HOME STATE SCHOOL THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA (Gators) Hand OU their asses!

YIPPIE YI YO COW PATTY'S!!

OCKLAWAHA happy now - walking on walls! Hic!

(Note 1. - Sooners = Believe it or not a University Team named after criminals facing a death penalty for gross violation of international treatys and law. Before the guns sounded to start the various land runs in Oklahoma, many groups of criminals would sneak under the line and stake land claims ahead of the race. So in old west cowboy slang - "they got there sooner" - later just shortened to sooners. The army and the indians could shoot them on sight. WAY TO GO UF! )

[ProjectMaximus]

This year, while eating popcorn and drowning in two bottles of Rebel Yell, The University of Oklahoma (The Sooners {*1.note}) handed my school our ass in our first winning season in memory. They even defiled our new T. Boone Pickens Stadium with their riff-raff.

Confused?! You guys (Cowboys) have had winning records for three straight seasons and 6 of the last 7. But yeah, go gators!

[CMG22]

More? Fast? Food?   You've got to be kidding me!  Sure, kudos for development and planning and tearing down a seedy place, but how uninspired!  The last thing this city needs are more chains layering on the fat layers with more deep fried food.  Now don't get me wrong, I love me some Wendy's, but it'd be better for me if it were harder to get.  At a time when the lunch shops in that area are struggling, the last thing we need are people getting fat on the cheap instead of enjoying more specialized, unique cuisine...

[thelakelander]

I assume the developer is attempting to target the thousands of employees and visitors, with limited time and budgets, visting the Southbank.  I don't know who will end up in this food court, but fast food does not have to ooze with layers of fat.  Noodles & Co, Chipotle, Atlanta Bread, Cosi, Au Bon Pain and Sierra Grill are good examples of fast food restaurants offering a healthier menu. 

[ChriswUfGator]

I assume the developer is attempting to target the thousands of employees and visitors, with limited time and budgets, visting the Southbank.  I don't know who will end up in this food court, but fast food does not have to ooze with layers of fat.  Noodles & Co, Chipotle, Atlanta Bread, Cosi, Au Bon Pain and Sierra Grill are good examples of fast food restaurants offering a healthier menu. 

+1

I especially like Atlanta Bread

[Ocklawaha]

ProjectMaximus
Confused?! You guys (Cowboys) have had winning records for three straight seasons and 6 of the last 7. But yeah, go gators!

That's pretty cool news to me, having spent the last few years closer to the Amazon then the St. Johns... Hard to watch US College football in the Andes - unless you buy some overpriced package.

I did hear that we beat OU year before last? Doesn't matter if we win any other games, just as long as we beat OU. This season was a washout on that!

OCKLAWAHA