What to do with the Snyder Church in Downtown?

[thelakelander]

WHAT TO DO WITH SNYDER?

The future of the vacant Snyder Memorial Church building remains uncertain. Here are some visions for the downtown landmark:

JIM DRAPER, A JACKSONVILLE ARTIST, calls Snyder an ideal venue for local bands. "They ought to get someone in there to program weekly concerts. ... If there was something going on there every Friday night appealing to that 18-35 age group, I think you'd get a huge shift in downtown."

GREG VACCARO, OWNER OF GUS & CO. SHOE & LUGGAGE REPAIR across from Snyder, suggests using the building to house high-end boutiques."Anything they do to occupy buildings downtown is good for business. Whenever you have an empty building, we don't have customers we can feed off of."

RENEE WATERS, AN EMPLOYEE AT NONPROFIT ABILITY HOUSING DOWNTOWN, sees Snyder as a future center for troubled youth to hang out during or after school. "Whether as a day school or an after-school program, you can never have enough after-school programs for kids."

MICHAEL MUNZ, PARTNER WITH THE DALTON AGENCY, sees the old church becoming a visitor attraction. "I think it needs to be something that creates some life in the building during the day and into the evening, whether it's arts-and-culture related or restaurant-related."

TERRY LORINCE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DOWNTOWN VISION INC., envisions an arts venue that compliments the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art. "I would love to see it used as a temporary, off-the-grid place for artists to display their work, or as a small performing arts center."

What do you do with a beautiful old church in downtown Jacksonville?
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-03-19/story/what_do_you_do_with_a_beautiful_old_church_in_downtown_jacksonville

[vicupstate]

Draper and Lorince's ideas are both solid IMO.

[lindab]

When we went to hear a Noel Freidline and the choir there during the jazz festival, I was struck by the charm and intimacy of the space. A perfect compliment to some of the grander spaces of Jacoby Hall.

[tpot]

Turn it into a fun downtown nightclub.  Serve high end apps, some live music that turns into a dance club type atmosphere after 10pm.  Call it "Church"..................

[Miss Fixit]

Music venue for sure

[blizz01]

Snyder's Dueling Pianos!

[blizz01]

Ouch - that was my 666th post - in a church thread of all things!!!!!!  Nothing else to say really - just one more post to push it over that one......

[buckethead]

I wonder if this structure might be suitable to serve as a house of worship?

[braeburn]

I was thinking the same thing!   

[blizz01]

I think they tried that already.

[buckethead]

I think they tried that already.

It was a 100 year fluke?

[Jerry Moran]

Individuals who post comments under the T-U sites are often derided as lunatics here, but the following comment by "Woody Richards" hits the mark:

If you want to get good folks living, eating and shopping downtown again, a) clean the place up, b) relocate the urban outdoorsmen, and c) arrest the thieves and dealers - make it a place people want to visit, not fear visiting.  That's your job already.  Do it first, ask for "raises" later.

Woody could be from anywhere in North Florida, but this is how he sees down town.  Until the City does what Woody suggests, no one's coming.

[Dog Walker]

"urban outdoorsmen"  Good one!

[braeburn]

Thieves and dealers? This is not something I really ever see downtown..

[Coolyfett]

Music venue for sure

I agree. It would be great for shows!! Who owns it?