Hogans Creek Park Master Plan

[ChriswUfGator]

I used to sit at the University Medical Cetner Construciton site (1995) and  watch the Health Department parking lot flood up to windshields during significant thunderstorms.  I'm sure those employees would like to move away from the creek.

Another reason I can't believe the plan doesn't incorporate the re-construction of a flood-control device. It's not like COJ is blissfully unaware of this problem, since their own properties are affected by it.

[NthDegree]

Thank you for the link, I think I understand the project much better.

Careful with this one!

The architect Klutho (architects have in the past often tried their hands at shaping leisure landscape) is closely associated with the development history of Jacksonville, and measures should be taken to preserve his work.
Jacksonville seems to be doing a fine job of this to date.  

For this park, any proposed plan should focus on measures that enhance the character defining features of the original plans. Prairie school design is characterized by open plans, horizontal lines, and the use of indigenous materials.  A style which I should think would lend itself well to any park setting.  


So my question is, are the current designers using an approach that honors Klutho's design philosophy?
 

[Jason]

IMO, flood control needs to be the primary objective for the Creek but the mindset that it should look good and be a part of a larger master plan.  If the park is always flooded when it rains, all the decorations in the world are still void of any appreciation and enjoyment.

[Ocklawaha]

So Frank Lloyd Wright or I.M Pei were out there swinging their own hammers? LOL

Come on, it doesn't happen. The original balustrades are no less Klutho's work because the one man didn't physically pour them himself. That's normal, and par for the course. They are historic structures, created by our only real local architect of note. They should be saved!

Of course we SHOULD save all of the original stuff we can, but considering re-bar, I'm not sure how easy that is going to come up. Making a pattern off of the originals is the next best thing for casting concrete, obviously we don't have enough intact segments to complete the project.

Remember guys, sarcasm is my "spiritual gift..."

You could dredge that creek out and create a cruise ship canal out of it, but unless they rebuild the expressway box culvert, and hopefully give us a 6' clearance, it still won't drain.

I'm also concerned about the "MODERN" mix with the original, without care they could destroy the tranquility of the place.

OCKLAWAHA

[Bike Jax]

Here's what I don't see. Any connectivity. It appears that the city is making plans to treat each section of park as separate entities when if it is truly a central park system them it should be treated as such. There should be included within the plans a nice mulituse trail the runs the length of the parks along Hogans Creek.

[ChriswUfGator]

Of course we SHOULD save all of the original stuff we can, but considering re-bar, I'm not sure how easy that is going to come up.

Like anything else, I guess it probably comes down to $$$$.

But when you're dealing with historic structures, I think this should be less of a concern for COJ than when they're just re-paving a street or installing a sidewalk or whatnot. We can't just keep knocking down everything historic because it's cheaper and easier. That can only go on so long, before you've lost what was special in the first place.

I'm also concerned about the "MODERN" mix with the original, without care they could destroy the tranquility of the place.

+1

[thelakelander]

I thought the Hogans Creek Greenway was already funded?  It doesn't appear to be shown in the drawings.  Has it been eliminated?

[Captain Zissou]

So my question is, are the current designers using an approach that honors Klutho's design philosophy?
 

++4

[finehoe]

...to help create a master plan for the 27-acre neglected city parks that stretch from Liberty Street to Eighth Street.

Are there any plans in place to ensure that once the money is spent to re-hab the park it isn't neglected again?

[Ocklawaha]

The original purpose of the Canal.  The Hogans Creek was notorious and dangerous for its natural bed of deadly quick mud.   Many people lost their lives making chance or panicked crossings of the canal.  The conditions that create quick mud didnt just go away.  Also Klutho designed and executed this canal and retention pond as a way of draining the swamp and wetlands that Springfield is built on.

More like "Quick Shit" today.

There is a large patch on the Ortega River land, West of NAS Jax too. Happily it is only about 3 feet deep which made it an excellent play area for young Florida boys in the 50's. Not only deadly, but sometimes really fun! However it does stain your clothes and your mom was likely to cop a bad attitude. The only solution seemed to be bringing home a couple of snakes each day, then she would just leave you alone.

OCKLAWAHA

[fsujax]

I agree. Enough with the passive park space! We need to create better uses especially along and near Main St.

[BridgeTroll]

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=52772

Hogan’s Creek project could be ‘Hold on Creek’
by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer

In a 2002 Army Corps of Engineers report on the status of Hogan’s Creek and the plan to restore the waterway that bisects Downtown, project manager Steven Robinson concluded the then-$4.9 million was absolutely necessary.

“Without the project, Hogan’s Creek would continue to degrade in environmental quality and contribute to pollution and sediment loadings of the St. Johns River,” he wrote.

Robinson is no longer in the Corps’ Jacksonville District office, but Hogan’s Creek is still polluted and there are still plans to improve the waterway from both an aesthetic and environmental perspective. When those plans go into motion isn’t clear, either.

According to John Pappas, deputy director of Public Works, the State Department of Transportation has set aside $1 million to build a 12-foot wide concrete pathway along a portion of east and north sides of the creek. However, since the 2002 study, new environmental concerns have cropped up, namely an ash remediation effort that hasn’t started and doesn’t have a price tag.

“We are waiting before we can move forward,” said Pappas. “We are waiting to hear from the ash remediation group.”

Dubbed the “Hogan’s Creek Greenway Project,” the $1 million plan involves a walkway, concrete edging and monument of some kind, said Pappas.

According to Tom Heal, an engineer with Public Works, part of the clean up will involve the removal of trash that’s in the creek and on the creek banks. Because the creek flows from Springfield southeast to the St. Johns River, much of that trash gets caught in a net in the water just before the mouth of the creek. The banks of the creek in that area are littered with fast food cups, beer cans, a bicycle rim, police tape and other garbage â€" all evidence of homeless people sleeping under and near the various bridges that cross the creek.

While the creek’s water may appear filthy, Ebenezer Gujjarlapudi, director of the City’s Environmental Compliance Department, said until the water and the sediment are tested, there’s no way to determine exactly what contaminates are in the water and to what levels. He said the Corps and the State Department of Environmental Protection will deal with the creek itself while the City will concentrate on the Greenway project and the area outside of the water’s edge.

“The State has determined that over 85 percent of the contamination is from fecal matter from pets, geese and other animals,” he said. “Most of the contamination is around Confederate Park. We are looking at what’s in the ground.”

What’s near Confederate Park is the Park View Inn, a long vacant hotel at the corner of State Street and Newnan Street. Gujjarlapudi said the Park View is condemned and slated for demolition within the next couple of months. After that, he said, the State DEP will work with the property owner to begin remediation. At that time, he added, the City will be able to better gauge the environmental issues at Confederate Park.

“Once they clear that up, we will put our plan together to clean up our property,” said Gujjarlapudi.

Heal said the project could go to bid, but since only about one-half to two-thirds of it could be placed on a request for proposal due to the ash issues, the project is “in the middle of nowhere” and it wouldn’t make sense to put out an RFP.

Jim Manning, an engineer in the Environmental Compliance Department, said some of the contamination is from an early 1900s gas manufacturing plant that sat where the Park View Inn is today.

“It’s like tar and it’s deep underground,” he said. “It’s not in the creek, but it’s deep underground and it’s sinking.”


msharkey@baileypub.com

[thelakelander]

Here is the Shands Jacksonville master plan.  Between Shands and the proposed VA Clinic site, this medical campus will run along the west border of the park from 8th to just south of 5th Street.

Genesis worked with the Facilities Department Manager for Shands of NE Florida to develop a 20-year Vision for the Shands Health Park in Jacksonville, Florida. To develop a program, Genesis held numerous Charette Workshops with multiple stakeholder groups within Shands Management. The master plan included the re-routing of the existing traffic to better orient visitors, within the development and surrounding areas. Internal roads were converted to pedestrian oriented vehicular roadways, with numerous additional pedestrian pathways offering connectivity and open space within the Health Park. A new 500 bed Trauma Center was a major focus for the 20-Year Vision. The master plan included a transect of building uses and height to maintain more dense development internally within the property, and allow for lower 2-and 3-story buildings surrounding the residential development to the East.

http://www.genesisgroup.com/projects/113.php

[thelakelander]

Here's the FSCJ Downtown Campus Master Plan:



The creek can be seen in the northeast corner.

[thelakelander]

^I pulled them from old MJ threads.  Both have been around for at least three years or so.