Rendering of the USS Charles F. Adams Naval Ship Downtown

[thelakelander]

I thought that age was about a decade ago?

[Wacca Pilatka]

I thought that age was about a decade ago?

It was, but that wouldn't fit the bad song lyric joke I wanted to make.

[fieldafm]

Turning the Shipyards property into a parking lot... awesome!

[thelakelander]

Please no! The ship being moored there is fine but we've got to get some better utilization out of that property than just paving it.

[fsujax]

I like the ship being there, but not a parking lot. I mean there are thousands of spaces just a few blocks away that go unused most of the time.

[Tacachale]

I like the idea of the ship too, but on no condition should that highly visible riverfront property worth millions of dollars be yet another surface parking lot.

[urbaknight]

I agree 110%, there should NOT be a parking lot there. Maybe if JTA can connect the area better people can use a shuttle bus or better yet, a Skyway extention or streetcar.

And just a piece of advice for the towing crew for the USS Adams, please wait for low-tide and maybe weigh the ship down with some weight before towing under the bridges, please!

If this ship were to hit any of the bridges, I could see it killing the whole museum idea!

[JayBird]

With the exception of that one photo on their web site, no where is there any mention/plan/idea of building a parking lot for the museum. Access will be from Bay Street and the RiverWalk so public parking will be connected by them. That rendering was just made to fill in the picture because the rest of the area is still unknown. As Chris Flagg, the artist of rendering, said months ago "it may be a roller coaster, a carousel, a Ferris wheel, a petting zoo, or a 50 story tower on the pier and empty lot. Right now it's anyone's guess and all those and more are still on the table".

The original olans were to construct a small welcome center with gift shop on the pier alongside, however the current plan consists of locating all operations on the ship itself in hopes of spurring some sort of development immediately pier side. Now, those plans can and probably will change over the next 3-5 years that I see this project taking. I actually anticipate a solid shipyards plan and maybe even beginning constructing before this ship gets towed into town.

[Keith-N-Jax]

Something like the London Eye I hope.

[JayBird]

^ hahaha there we go, but I think it should be called Alvin's Eye because after all it will save downtown and turn Jacksonville into the next Vegas!

[thelakelander]

Only if it has a new downtown Winn-Dixie in it....

[Know Growth]

 ***How in the world does this fit in with what has already been decided for the Shipyards?***

Personally, I think it's ugly.
A great celebration of the Military Industrial Complex.Yea! Jacksonville!!!This will put us on the map and draw us to Downtown as if on a military march.Forward!.....March!
My dad served aboard USN LSM 82. He loved the Jacksonville downtown waterfront and "the potential". If he were still alive I am quite certain he would agree to my outlook.
Ultimately,it is not about a naval ship but more about what the downtown riverfront is,and could be.


By the way,kayak runs alongside and underneath the Pier reveals what appears to be looming repair needs.

[Noone]

WOW! You guys are tough. I still think its a great idea. All aboard!

AH American History

AH Adams to Hogan

Will post more.

I'm All In

[Ocklawaha]

As Lake is fond of saying, 'A trick pony won't remake downtown Jacksonville.' I hold to the theory that a compact herd of complimentary trick pony's will.

The Adam's is a good start, so is the aquarium, southern music hall of fame, expansion of the Landing, a quay, art market, transportation center, another mixed use high rise or two and a streetcar/skyway link to thread them all together.

I've always liked the old shipyards site for something like this but considering the value of the real estate there is no room to expand. Perhaps Metropolitan Park or JEA site is better, the JEA site will have better access to I-95 in the near future as well, so would an Acosta Bridge site.

The trouble I see isn't that it's another 'awful military museum' as at least one has indicated, but that there isn't enough of a military museum to draw people in. The Adams was at the Bay of Pigs, and supported 'Police Actions' in Vietnam and the Mid-East and while the valor of the crew may well be the same, this is hardly the USS Alabama at Leyte Gulf in WWII. So toss in the USS Jacksonville, a very cool attack submarine which will soon be retired. Add in the crew from the 'Wings of Dreams Museum,' in Keystone Heights along with their various historic aircraft. Haul the North Florida Military Museum up from Green Cove Springs and their untouchable collection of vehicles, photos and Militariana, lastly the Museum of Southern History and the Maple Leaf Collection and you'd have a winner.

[thelakelander]

Dreaming has never been our problem. If we find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, we can do a herd of complimentary trick ponies.  Until then, we're stuck in this time warp known as reality.