Mayport Cruise Terminal: Finding Common Ground

[iluvolives]

I agree- I grew up in Avondale and there is no comparison to Mayport. My post was more in response to the the comment " Just because the opponents to this have their own opinions, it doesn't mean they're valid or worth hearing" from Zissou. Which is why I brought up Brooklyn, because 98% of people in Jacksonville probably have no clue where it is and could care less about it, but it's still an area that gets discussed on this site. 

[Steve K]

There is nothing quaint or charming about Mayport in its current state.  There are several dozen helicopter sorties that leave from the adjacent naval station every day and the waterfront looks like a wasteland.  I'm all for helping out the locals but an obstructionist agenda at any cost for the past two years has allowed 80-100 people to stop much needed progress and economic development for 1.3 million people in the area.  Why can't there be a win/win outcome such as - build the terminal and require the cruise ships to by Mayport shrimp each week?  Ultimately, the port authority owns the property and should act swiftly to do what is in the best interest of the vast majority.

[Captain Zissou]

Olives.  My comment was more just a personal (possible unrelated) viewpoint, it was poor taste to bring it into this discussion.  I agree with you the very few people know/care about Brooklyn (which is why everyone calls it riverside), but I still don't think the two scenarios are similar.  

In one situation, people are fighting development of an area, to their own detriment.  In the other, people are just trying to move a building that would be otherwise torn down.  If Fidelity had plans for that site that were beneficial to the area and the region, then the two situations could be compared.  Fidelity has Zero plans for the site currently, we're just trying to move a building that would otherwise meet a wrecking ball.

[tufsu1]

so far nothing has been lost...JaxPort delayed the decision because of the bond market and the fact that Hanjin doesn't need the current cruise terminal site until 2013.

that said, things will need to start moving quickly....they have to get a site approved, designed, and constructed in less than 3 years.

[Mattius92]

Jacksonville definitely needs a better cruise terminal, one that doesn't require ships to go under the Dames, and one that can handle ships with over 4,000 passengers. Take Port Everglades or Port Canaveral, they make millions off the cruise industry. If Jacksonville were to get a better cruise terminal, we wouldn't have to go all the way to Miami or Cape Canaveral to catch a proper cruise ship. And personally Royal Caribbean is my favorite, and to get a ship from them would totally call for a better terminal. No way a Freedom-class cruise ship could make it under the Dames, and I dont even think the Shipping channel is deep enough west of the Dames.

Recession hasn't effected the cruise industry, especially with two new mega-class cruise ships being created during the recession. The poeple in Mayport need to grow up.

[iluvolives]

In one situation, people are fighting development of an area, to their own detriment.  In the other, people are just trying to move a building that would be otherwise torn down.  If Fidelity had plans for that site that were beneficial to the area and the region, then the two situations could be compared.  Fidelity has Zero plans for the site currently, we're just trying to move a building that would otherwise meet a wrecking ball.

My reference to Brooklyn was more comparing the shanty and shotgun homes that sat in Brooklyn and were torn down for development that still has not occurred.

Does anyone know if places like Singelton's would be torn down if this went forward? Again, I think Mayport could be millions of times better than it is, but I think an effort should be put forward to maintain the few (very few) gems that it currently has and not just tear everything down and build a new "quaint old looking" fishing village.

[Coolyfett]

Watch the Sunset? They were made they could not watch the Sunset? The 40th city of the US, does not want this because it brings tourist in, but the locals can't enjoy it? @ake........They dont want the economic boost for the area?

[Captain Zissou]

Watch the Sunset? They were made they could not watch the Sunset?

What?

[jagsfan32092]

I have a suggestion.  Why don't we take all residents of Mayport (all 50) on a road trip to Tampa and show them what it can be like and how it would raise their values.  They would change their minds, period.  The politicians in this town p me off!

[thelakelander]

Does anyone know if places like Singelton's would be torn down if this went forward? Again, I think Mayport could be millions of times better than it is, but I think an effort should be put forward to maintain the few (very few) gems that it currently has and not just tear everything down and build a new "quaint old looking" fishing village.

There is nothing left along the waterfront between Singleton's and Safe Harbor.  The cruise ship terminal site being looked at would be built between them.  Thus, if properly planned and developed, you could have continuous mixed-use walkable development, shrimp docks, and public space (integrated with a cruise terminal) along the entire Mayport waterfront.  In this scenario, these existing establishments would serve as the bookends for that stretch.

[mtraininjax]

Mayport is pretty much represented by Zip Code 32227, and from what I can gather, in 2008, it had an estimated population of almost 5,800 people. That amounts to a bit less than 2 cruise ships of people, using the current Carnival ship. So we have the few holding up the progress of the many in Mayport. This feels like a Cecil Field argument all over again, but Cecil had more zip codes in the flight path and more issues. I don't see 5,800 people standing in the way of a multi-million dollar business for Jacksonville, not when unemployment is almost 12%.

[Steve K]

Mtrain, it's not even the entire area of Mayport.  Most people in Mayport are in favor of the terminal.  It is mostly a very small group in Mayport Village which is the tiny finger of land that runs out along the river next to the navy base.  Some of those families have a long rich heritage in the area going back hundreds of years and I can understand their angst, but they happen to be sitting on one of the areas biggest natural resources in a deepwater port location right by the ocean that requires no dredging and has no bridges to block it.

[JeffreyS]

Yes perhaps they missed the port part of Mayport.

[Ocklawaha]

I have no sympathy for Mayport as-is.  For all the talk of being involved and creating a new "Riverwalk East", Mayport residents have shown themselves incapable of maintaining what they already have.  Case-in-point?  The streetscape of Mayport. New improvement's done to the cry of the residents... "If only we had..." Today that same streetscape is a disaster.  There are weeds so tall they could harbor a herd of wildebeests. There is a "welcome" sign that speaks of 1563, yet they have allowed even that to fall into such repair that if LOOKS like it was erected in 1563, and not painted, repaired or cleaned up since the invasion of Northeast Florida, by James Oglethorp in 1741. Look around and some of that trash is still labeled, "Jax Beer", "666", and "Hadacol's" patent medicine guaranteed to make one “Poorer Than Dead”.

If we want to be raw, a terminal that truly salutes Mayport would look like a giant discarded BK bag, packed with beer cans and spent condoms.


OCKLAWAHA
Aren't I nice?

[stjr]

Out of curiosity, what impact on the design do the security requirements of Homeland Security/Customs have on access to the waterfront servicing a cruise ship?  Does this cause the waterfront there to be closed down to the public, at least when a ship is in port?  Will it also restrict the river channel when the ship comes and goes?  How does this work now?  What impact, if any, is there on the ferry dock and operations?  Will hotels for those needing an overnight stay be built in Mayport?  Where?