Comments about historic preservation.

[finehoe]

Actually, 11-E and The Carling are two nice examples where the city saved iimportant old buildings,
and actually "Killed two birds with one stone" by providing new residential use which is so desparately needed.

Other examples... every bar & club on Bay St.

I know the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission had a hand in 11-E and The Carling, but did any city entity provide help for the bars and clubs on Bay St.?

[finehoe]

^^That's what I thought.

[Shwaz]

^^That's what I thought.

I missed your point about reuse the city had a hand in... my commentary was directed towards successful rehabs of historic buildings.

[finehoe]

And it's a valid observation, but even most of the Bay St. area looks like a toothless old hag's smile with its missing buildings and vacant lots.

[Shwaz]

And it's a valid observation, but even most of the Bay St. area looks like a toothless old hag's smile with its missing buildings and vacant lots.

Agreed. I think building should be spared demolition for private and city reuse.

[Lunican]

How many downtown bars and restaurants bought an empty lot and put up their own building?

Sportmotor, please list any you can think of.

[Ocklawaha]

Sportmotor, You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in elementary school. But don't sweat the small stuff man, you'll enjoy it better in high school...

OCKLAWAHA

[hanjin1]

did you not know you were going to get blasted with the thread you started? with over 1,200 posts, i would think that you would know.

[Sportmotor]

did you not know you were going to get blasted with the thread you started? with over 1,200 posts, i would think that you would know.

actually I didnt start this thread, infact I was at 3layers eating with a friend when this apparntly posted up, stephen moved posts here and started it like a child
nothing new tho 

[finehoe]

Three Layers?  Isn't that in a historic building?

[buckethead]

There is something quite compelling about walking within hundred year old walls. Touching their surface. Viewing the workmanship of my great grandfathers.

Historic structures are the best structures. They are the fabric of who we are.

[Mondo]

The reason that a lot of city entertainment districs are in downtown areas is because old worn buildings in most places can be bought pretty cheaply... Here we have a bunch of buildings that are priced out of range for reasonable rehab... Especially since the people who owned them just let them rot while they were waiting for the big real estate boom. I bet they are so disappointed that it all went south, literally. The bulk of the buildings weren't built well... Many during the depression after the great fire. I think the city should create incentives for younger hip entrepenuers who have no cash but lots of energy, relax some of the building codes so buildings could be used even without an elevator (how many wheelchair bound people go to a night club or really care if they can't get upstairs? It costs 100 to 500k$ just for an elevator! That you can't use in a fire if you had to get the wheelchair bound out anyway! (new York grandfathered lots of buildings in) I would love to live above my business... No car everyday would be awesome. I can't afford it! And we as a city should make a choice to reclaim downtown. It needs a heart, it needs pride and it needs all of us. Or at least those of us who want a better more self reliant life, where local businesses thrive and retain the money spent in them within our community. The corporate retailers are robbing of us of our identity. Jacksonville has always had issues with who it is... Well we are more developed now and it's time to stake our claim and create a place that is unique, proud of it's southern heritage, welcoming of it's new diversity and culturally dynamic. This is a great city... It just needs us to stop complaining and judging everyone and collectively take ownership of it and clean it up!     

[stjr]

Maybe if more young people appreciated their roots, both individually and as a community/nation and the events, contributions, and sacrifices highlighted and represented by the teaching of history, museums, family trees, historic artifacts, sites and structures, literature, etc, we wouldn't be experiencing some of the many issues found in our society.  Of all of the above options, only historic sites, artifacts, and structures give us a tangible way of connecting to our past.  Imagine our world without the Taj Mahal, the pyramids, Great Wall of China, or Independence Hall, or Williamsburg. 

A people without roots is likely to share the destiny of a tree without roots - blown away by the winds of life.

Other parts of the world are passing us by because our youngsters don't have a clue that New Mexico isn't a country and Canada isn't a state, much less who the last 5 presidents were, what are the wars of the last 100 years or what's happening outside of the superficial world of the celebrity of the day twitter gossip channel.  Just watch Jaywalking on Leno to see how bad things are.

George Santayana:

    Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

[Mondo]

Totally on point!!! That's why I'm excited about the new city museum going in The Landing. I'm going to their meeting next Thursday. We should all go and make our ideas a part of that. It seems like they are really open and trying to build up the sense of community here. Anyone else going?

[Timkin]

 IMO... A museum should go in a historic building...not the Landing..  The Landing is an entertainment complex.. It is not old enough to have historic importance..   Put a museum in PUBLIC SCHOOL NUMBER FOUR or some other large historic landmark.  I know this probably would never happen in Jacksonville.. just saying.... Historic properties would give a whole new gleam to a museum.   

No offense to anyone... The Landing is a flop.  always was ..always will be.  It just has the distinction of being one of a very few ( compared to ...say...Atlanta ) destinations in the downtown area at night.