50 Years Ago: Meter Enforcement Increased, Last Major New Retail Building

[stjr]

From the Jax Daily news "50 Years Ago This Week" series, an interesting juxtaposition of news in Jax at the time.  Coincidence in the parking meter enforcement being stepped up and retail's last gasp?

• It was reported that motorists who wanted to shop or do other business Downtown should have an easier time getting a parking place because of increased law enforcement.

The police department ordered a “closer check” on persons who violated the law by parking their cars at metered spaces for periods longer than allowed by the meter,

Capt. C.L. Raines of the traffic division stated the law required that a car be moved from a metered space after the maximum stay, which could be 36 minutes, one hour or two hours, depending on the meter’s location.

The intent of the law was to bring about a turnover which would benefit both the motorists visiting Downtown establishments and the merchants.

Raines said the crackdown would be on persons who parked their cars in one metered space for several hours or all day long and continued to put coins in the meter. The practice was said to be fairly common among some employees of Downtown establishments, and in some cases the employees were banding together to designate one person to put coins in the meters for all of them.

For the unitiated, the below complex is now owned by JEA.  In between its construction as Universal Marion HQ's and JEA, the tower also served as the HQ's of The Charter Company.

• Plans were announced for a $15 million business center to include four buildings in a two-block complex Downtown.

The structures would include a five-story building to house the seventh department store of J.B. Ivey and Company, which was expanding its southern operations to Jacksonville; a 14-story office building to be called the Universal-Marion Building; a six-level public parking garage that would also be the new location for women’s specialty store Purcells; and a five-story medical building, the first floor of which was designated for a restaurant and cocktail lounge.

“The new store will give us more than double the space we now have and the move is in keeping with the natural growth direction of Downtown and a mounting trend for modern stores to become part of a planned center with parking, offices, a restaurant, recreational facilities and professional offices in proximity,” said Richard Lewinson, Purcells president and general manager.

The garage would be on the south side of Church Street between Main and Laura streets. The other three buildings would be constructed in the block bounded by Main, Ashley, Laura and Church streets.

The focal point of the center would be a landscaped plaza with a reflecting pool-ice rink 114 feet long and 45 feet wide. The restaurant would overlook the pool.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=531067

[tufsu1]

maybe we should compare 2 things from 50 years ago versus more recent times...

1. the number of employees downtown
2. the number of employees that had access to a car

[tufsu1]

if that is relatable to comparing parking usage, sure 

[thelakelander]

So what happened to the ice rink?

[tufsu1]

Well comparing it to your examples, it is just as relatable.

In any case, regardless of your theory, there are the facts. 

During the building up of the downtown environment, employees apparently were parking all day and feeding the meters.

When employees were specifically targeted, the end of the retail era began.

and this didn't coincide with the rise of suburban retail (i.e., shopping malls) in Jax. and around the country, right?

[ChriswUfGator]

Well comparing it to your examples, it is just as relatable.

In any case, regardless of your theory, there are the facts.  

During the building up of the downtown environment, employees apparently were parking all day and feeding the meters.

When employees were specifically targeted, the end of the retail era began.

and this didn't coincide with the rise of suburban retail (i.e., shopping malls) in Jax. and around the country, right?

If your arguments made any sense (they don't), then why are the other formerly-dead urban cores in many other cities thriving when ours continues to languish? Last I checked, nobody has dynamited all the strip malls.

I do not understand your love affair with parking meters. They are ruinous!