Peyton's Struggles: Friendship Fountain

[ProjectMaximus]

i proposed to my wife in front of that fountain.
i love this city.

are you Mr. Debby Boree?

[heights unknown]

I too visited the Friendship Fountain as a kid, in fact right after it was built in 1965 (giving away my age...I was about 8 or 9 at the time).  Though Jax had no supertalls at the time, the skyline was awesome nevertheless, and it was breathtaking climbing up that spiral and viewing the Northbank.  I think Riverplace Tower (Gulf Life) had not yet been built.  Save the fountain!  Refubish, rebuild, reconstruct, but don't destroy and/or replace it with anything else, or add anything else to it!

Heights Unknown

[Ocklawaha]

Oklahoma City is holding regular SHOUT OUT rallys in an attempt to save the Union Station yards from I-40.
They have tee shirts, attorneys, the green party, pro-transit, pro-Amtrak, pro-rail, balloons, brochures, handbooks etc...

So Jacksonville? How about a good old 1968 style protest! Chain my A-- to that railing and defy anyone to remove my 270 pound carcass... Got tye-dyes and signs?

Boy Peyton came to the charette for Kids Space Planning and INSTRUCTED the whole group with a pitch that went something like, "You KNOW we need that space, we need open ground, we need more flex space, think of ways to shove everything aside..." Real inspiration and like Lemmings the entire group made nice and EVERY SINGLE PLAN was poisoned with this nonsense. So when the citizens desires are told, it is going to be a very - stacked deck. Maggot brained contemptible twerp.



HELL NO! THE FOUNTAIN DOSEN'T GO!

OCKLAWAHA

[ToldYouSo]

I talked with one of the directors back a few directors ago and the cost to repair the two pumps was less than $200,000. The figure of $860,000 was fabricated so that they could help justify the fountain demolition. I can't understand why this administration surrounds themselves with incompetent people then pushes ideas then general public doesn't want. The good news is that in just a few years we'll have all of the incompetents out of City Hall....just hope we don't vote in equals.

[BridgeTroll]

I'm shocked... shocked I say!

[jeh1980]

As much as I respect Mayor Peyton, his plan will never work. I always loved the friendship fountain. And I would rather see him restore the fountain than to replace it with a playground. Why won't we instead restore that fountain and put a observation deck/revolving restaurant, an aquarium and a small amplitheater around it!  Keep the faith and LONG LIVE FRIENDSHIP FOUNTAIN!!!

[JeffreyS]

Keep the fountain and find room for a playground.

[stjr]

There is no reason to replace the fountain unless it is with something more iconic.  Now.... I said "iconic", not "moronic"!

Water and Florida go hand in hand and that fountain has made Jax more "Florida-like" in TV shots during countless national football games, etc. than anything else other than our beaches and a boat on the river. 

The fountain is one of a kind and deserves this high profile spot.  A playground is not.  Also, should kids get too wound up (as they are prone to do in playgrounds) near the river, they might fall in.  Then, they will tell us we need a 6 foot fence around the playground.  How will our skyline look behind chain link?

Also, is it not cheaper to fix the fountain than to rip it out and build a million+ dollar playground (anything less will just be like a park in the neighborhood or gated development - in which case, why take a kid downtown to play) ?  And, as a rule, downtown visits are initiated by adults, not kids.  I don't see parents coming downtown just "to play".

If this is to be a major playground for downtown residents (who are more likely to be DINKS), I think there are better locations than this - like its current location by the stadium.

[Cliffs_Daughter]

Why would the city want to relocate Kids Kampus from what's been counted on as a very family-friendly 'complex'... unless they're admitting that entire sports/entertainment zone idea was wrong?

I have a small child, and I have no problem driving over near the stadium to visit that park if I want to. Being over near the other stuff (arena, stadium, baseball grounds) has a certain charm to it, if you ask my son. He thinks it's neat to play near where the Jags are on TV sometimes.

Like everybody else (some exceptions, I noted) I do NOT want that fountain removed. It's been the backdrop to a lot of key moments in my life. When you go there, even to take pictures of the river, you have to be near that fountain. I remember when we could walk up the spiral deck to view it better. I also remember when the covered walkway was to the side and it was a big picnic-style area.
If anything, the one thing that's in the way there is the River City Brewing Company (no offense to the owners). Take that fountain down, and they'd have to relocate the restaurant as well to create the space needed for a kids park.

Peyton's muddled up enough in this city already to think he could get support on this one. Get on your council member's tail on it so they don't let him get away with anything.

Hey, I'll gladly jump into line for any restoration fund-raising effort! Count me in!  Now, if I could just win the lotto, I'd pay for it myself... with council's permission, of course.