From the Business Journal.
This is the project that I was talking about a few months ago, glad that maintenance is being discussed upfront.
https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2018/11/01/city-funded-riverfront-light-and-sound-show-in-the.html
QuoteCity-funded riverfront light and sound show in the works to activate downtown
Lights, music and action may be coming to the Jacksonville riverfront.
It's a plan that councilwoman Lori Boyer is calling the "icing on the cake" – a nightly sound-and-light show involving bright colors, music and projections.
The light show would be focused on the "boxed area" framed by the Acosta and Main Street bridges, with projections on the Times Union Performing Arts Center, Friendship Fountain and southbank facades.
Miller Electric and The Moment Factory are engaged to develop the concept of the show as well as deliver operating cost estimates. The Moment Factory is known for its work on concerts, public spaces, bridges and projection shows all over the world. The funding for Miller and Moment Factory is coming from the DIA professional services budget, with the $60,000 contract bid out in September.
"Over the last few years on Chamber leadership trips, we've looked at other waterfronts to see what they've done to create some pizazz downtown," Boyer said. "We looked at all kinds of fountain shows off the bridges and the cost of maintaining them was way too high. The good news is a light and sound show ... is the least expensive to maintain."
Boyer said the expected operating cost for the show would be $250,000 a year, or up to $500,000 if a new show needed to be produced in a given year. Moment Factory and Miller will deliver more detailed estimates on operating and maintenance costs by December.
Representatives from Miller and Moment Factory tested some equipment in Jacksonville last week – and people stopped to watch, wondering what was going on.
"It was great," Boyer said. "That's exactly what we're going for here. It proves that this idea has enough firepower, creates enough interest that people would want to stop and watch it. And we weren't even testing sound that day."
Prep work needed
But before the light show can be put in place, several other renovations need to happen. The show will include aspects of the Friendship Fountain, and therefore can't be implemented until the fountain is fixed. And the Performing Arts Center can't be used for projections – or a planned livestream space – until the bulkhead in front of it is fixed, too.
City Council is aiming to spend $3.7 million to replace sections of the Northbank bulkhead, part of a multimillion project that includes upgrades to the Friendship Fountain, an expansion of the Southbank Riverwalk, refurbishment of the St. Johns River Parkand Northbank Riverwalk's wayfaring signs.
At the Tourist Development Council meeting on Oct. 17, Boyer received approval to bring two additional projects to city council. One of them is an $850,000 renovation of the performing arts center to include a new downtown visitors center, kids music space and restaurant and tributes to Jacksonville's musical heritage. The funds will come from the TDC's development account.
"We have a rich musical heritage, and it's an opportunity to tell that story in the performing arts garden," Boyer said. "Everything from the Johnson brothers to Ray Charles, Charles Singleton and James Brown, all the way up to Lynyrd Skynyrd."
The other is a TDC-funded $1.2 million "wallcast outdoor venue," modeled after the livestream capabilities at the New World Symphony in Miami. Performances, sports games and movies can be projected from the performing arts center onto the CSX facade, with lawn seating for families in the drop-off space for the center.
Activating downtown
"These plans are an outgrowth of a number of years of work," Boyer said. "We've been doing all these studies – the convention center study, the Longwood annual tourism study and a destination map, convention and meeting center study. All three say the same thing: there's not enough to do downtown at night."
Boyer said that the entertainment zone conversations surrounding Lot J are part of the solution, and so is the DIA's work to increase the number of residents downtown. A nightly show to celebrate water and beauty of space and tie it into Jacksonville could be the missing piece.
For the time being, she's working around the Jacksonville Landing, addressing the parts of the riverfront in city control first.
"I didn't want downtown to have to wait for the resolution of the Landing," she said. "We have too much energy. We all know that space needs to be rethought and redeveloped, and whatever form that takes and whoever is the operator of it, it still needs to be done. Until some progress is made there, let's work where we can work."
The riverfront renovations are already happening, in the meantime. Boyer said the greenery and signage will be installed by February.
Bulkhead repairs will be bid out for contract in February or March, and renovations are expected to take 18 to 24 months. The performing arts center renovations and speakers are set to be installed at the same time so the full experience can debut all at once by early 2021.
The idea has the support of others on council.
"I've traveled with Councilwoman Boyer and seem the realm of possibility of what we're not doing that other people are," said council President Aaron Bowman at the TDC meeting. "I think our ability to attract people downtown is extremely important and I think this will create the need. I'm fully supportive. I want to see downtown grow and thrive and we've got to start somewhere."
Yes, please, budget continuing maintenance.
And, make sure the lights are 'outside rated', unlike what happened in the Main Street Bridge towers.
" I want to see downtown grow and thrive and we've got to start somewhere."
Please start by replacing the marquee at the TUPAC. It's old and has not worked in over a year. COJ/SMG just put in a beauty at Daily's Place, somehow they found the $$ for that.
Lori Boyer:" All three (studies) say the same thing: there's not enough to do downtown at night." I wonder when the last time she came to hear her very own Jacksonville Symphony was?
Quote from: MusicMan on November 01, 2018, 03:50:28 PM
" I want to see downtown grow and thrive and we've got to start somewhere."
Please start by replacing the marquee at the TUPAC. It's old and has not worked in over a year. COJ/SMG just put in a beauty at Daily's Place, somehow they found the $$ for that.
Lori Boyer:" All three (studies) say the same thing: there's not enough to do downtown at night." I wonder when the last time she came to hear her very own Jacksonville Symphony was?
The Daily's Place marquee is a bit of a head scratcher to me. In theory, you'd think they put it up to advertise upcoming shows to the tens of thousands of cars passing by the facility on the Hart Bridge ramps each day. But if you're on westbound ramps heading into downtown, the barriers almost entirely block view of the sign. It's almost like it's 10 feet too low to be readable.
Agree. And if you stand at the base of the marquee and look toward the CBD, it faces a huge empty parking lot.
We have shows all year (Including this weekend!!) at TUPAC and have no marquee right now. On the new one they are advertising shows next July.....
No one cares about the symphony if they did you wouldn't complain so much lol
You are probably correct. Many care about the Jaguars (including me) and they are mediocre at best. I wish you all the best with that.
Quote from: JaGoaT on November 01, 2018, 08:14:52 PM
No one cares about the symphony if they did you wouldn't complain so much lol
Harsh reality
Strongly disagree.
The JSO is a HUGE part of this city's cultural fabric.
And it's also coming off the best year in its 70-year history for 2017-2018 with attendance of 255,000.
The problem was never that people didn't like the symphony. The problem is that only a small portion of the local population connect with classical music.
Courtney Lewis has done an AMAZING job broadening the symphony's scope, running more nontraditional programs and venues (how many new fans do you think the Symphony made when they did Harry Potter at Daily's Place?), and forging unique partnerships (you're missing out if you've never been to the Cowford rooftop when the symphony performs). So many of my friends who attend the symphony became fans through a Star Wars performance, or one of the movie nights (Home Alone by JSO was my favorite local performance last year).
I actually do think the city drops the ball a bit in marketing the symphony as a special, historic regional attraction. Sure, there are orxhestras all over the Southeast, but very few have the history and venue that JSO does.
I hope that if we ever do build a museum celebrating local music history, we properly recognize the JSO's contributions to the city.
Quote from: KenFSU on November 02, 2018, 12:10:14 AM
The problem is that only a small portion of the local population connect with classical music.
No one cares about the symphony lol
I also find it hard to believe 255,000 people attended
Quote from: KenFSU on November 02, 2018, 12:10:14 AM
The problem was never that people didn't like the symphony. The problem is that only a small portion of the local population connect with classical music.
Only a small portion of most local populations connects with classical music. It's a niche interest.
Quote from: JaGoaT on November 02, 2018, 12:29:14 AM
Quote from: KenFSU on November 02, 2018, 12:10:14 AM
The problem is that only a small portion of the local population connect with classical music.
No one cares about the symphony lol
I also find it hard to believe 255,000 people attended
Obviously ur wrong lol
Quote from: JaGoaT on November 01, 2018, 08:14:52 PM
No one cares about the symphony if they did you wouldn't complain so much lol
You do realize there's a ton that goes on at the Times-Union Center that isn't the Symphony.
That aside, our Symphony rocks. It's never going to have a Jaguars sized audience, but it's still pretty darn culturally important.
The symphony coupled with a rock band reproductions are very good. No doubt The Who show will be epic... Saw ELO also... very good
Quote from: JaGoaT on November 02, 2018, 12:29:14 AM
No one cares about the symphony lol
I also find it hard to believe 255,000 people attended
Stats from the JBJ. Specifically, an article from June about the Jacksonville Symphony being one of four orchestras nationally invited to perform at Kennedy Center. Thanks in part to how well they're connecting with the Jacksonville community. The community where nobody cares about the orchestra.
QuoteJacksonville Symphony invited to perform at the Kennedy Center
The Jacksonville Symphony has been selected as one of four orchestras to participate in the Kennedy Center and Washington Performing Arts' prestigious "Shift: A festival of American Orchestras."
The third such festival, Shift will take place in March of 2020 and showcases orchestras that are "responding to and reflecting their communities in meaningful ways, inside and outside the concert hall," according to a description. The festival gives the participating orchestras a national platform and an expanded project scope.
"This is really the biggest thing that has happened to the Symphony in the last 20 years," said Symphony President and CEO Robert Massey. "This is an amazing honor, and comes right at the end of our five-year strategic plan. I couldn't ask for a better culmination of such intense work by so many people."
The Symphony has been implementing a thorough rebranding ever since Massey and music director Courtney Lewis began their posts in 2014. Part of their plan was to grow the Symphony's attendance from 160,000 in 2014 to 250,000 by 2020. The Symphony hit 255,000 attendees in 2017.
"When Courtney and I got here, were were thinking, ok, who is really the model orchestra of our class?" Massey said. "And we couldn't come up with one, so we said that's our vision. We're going to be the model Symphony Orchestra for the size community that we are."
The applications for Shift were highly competitive, Massey said, and Lewis had to submit not only artistic programming plans, but descriptions of education programs and many audio samples.
The other orchestras included in the 2020 festival are the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The festival will begin on March 23, 2020, and the Jacksonville Symphony will be the first to perform on the John F. Kennedy stage the following evening.
Massey said that he thinks the Symphony was chosen because of its lining up with Shift's focus: looking at orchestras interact with and can be responsive to their communities.
"The second piece is the education programs we do," Massey said. "A highlight of this is now that we have a composer in residence, we can work with students on composing their own melodies."
The Symphony spent a year and a half designing the new program, during which Bryan and teaching artists from the Symphony will open workshops with students to learn the basics of composition. Musicians will then play back what the students have written. Titled "Compose Yourself," the program will debut during the 2018-2019 Symphony season and then be taken to Washington, D.C.
Massey said that he would love to bring patrons along on the trip, just as people travel to see the Jaguars play. While selection for the festival includes a prize, which covers about half the cost of getting the Symphony to D.C., some fundraising will still need to be done.
"We now have a year and a half to really work hard on this," Massey said. "I hope Jacksonville is really proud, because this is a very big honor for the city. We're just so thrilled to be able to serve as ambassadors for Jacksonville on a national stage."
https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2018/06/13/jacksonville-symphony-invited-to-perform-at-the.html
I can tell you that the people who DO come to the Jacksonville Symphony are mostly extremely satisfied with the experience and the quality of the product.
It may not be your thing, I get that. But it's worth checking out. It's a community resource, not a privately owned product (lookin at you Shad Khan) that the entire community can actually be proud of. And there truly is something for everyone.
Probably the most overlooked "DEAL" at Jacksonville Symphony is the SOUND CHECK Card. The Sound Check Card allows students (25 and under) enrolled in Duval Schools (including the colleges and Universities) to purchase a Sound Check Card for $25 which gets them a ticket to ALL OF THE MASTER WORKS CONCERTS OF THE SEASON. That's right, 12 Master Works Concerts for $25. And it allows them to bring a guest for $15 (yes that includes Mom, Dad or Grandma...). IMO this is the best deal in Florida for Cultural Arts participation. To get one you need to go in person to the TU ticket office with your school ID.
If you are interested go here:
https://www.jaxsymphony.org/concert-tickets/sound-check-card/
Quote from: KenFSU on November 01, 2018, 04:18:11 PM
It's almost like it's 10 feet too low to be readable.
Once the viaduct is demo'd, it'll be just fine.
Quote from: JaGoaT on November 02, 2018, 12:29:14 AM
Quote from: KenFSU on November 02, 2018, 12:10:14 AM
The problem is that only a small portion of the local population connect with classical music.
No one cares about the symphony lol
I also find it hard to believe 255,000 people attended
I care about the symphony. You don't. I guess we can agree to disagree. But you're wrong to think that
no one cares, or that the attendance is not very close to their estimates. They have an > $10M annual operating budget. There is clearly plenty of interest, and personally I think it is one of Jacksonville's strongest assets period. (which perhaps is sad commentary on the city but that's not a reflection on the organization itself)
I like the Symphony too - even if some of their members appear to have issues with working class people.
Funny!
You know I'm blogging from my Oceanfront condo in Maui! (Second home...)
The Music of 'The Who'
tonight set list:
Overture from TOMMY
My Generation
Substitute
I Can See For Miles
I Cant Explain
Baba O'Reilly
Behind Blue eyes
Won't Get Fooled Again
Underture
Pictures of Lily
Love Reign O're Me
Pinball Wizard
Amazing Journey
I'm Free
Sensation
See Me Feel Me/Listening to You
Who Are You
All those who don't care about the symphony will miss something good tonight