Gas Knob Irish Pub coming to Sports District

[thelakelander]

Bringing food, entertainment back to sports complex

A Downtown restaurant closed for almost two years will have a new name, new look and new tenants who hope to bring a splash of Irish-inspired cuisine and live entertainment to the block.

The under-construction Gas Knob Pub, located at the old Amsterdam Sky Cafe next to Veteran’s Memorial Arena, will open its doors sometime in mid-May if all goes well, said owners Michael Hennessy and Ralph Tiernan.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=49752

[fsujax]

Let's hope they don't face the same fate as the previous owners.  I hate always sounding so cynical, but after seeing all the ups and downs of these businesses trying to survive Downtown, its hard not to.  Good luck. I hope they do well.

[Steve]

They mentioned the parking issue.  Here's how you solve it:  Raise all tickets at the events at the Ballpark and the Arena $2, and don't charge for parking.  This way parking is always wide open and free.

It is ridiculous that with 10,000 parking spaces within a half a mile from place they have a parking problem.

[Jason]

Exactly.  Why are people afraid to walk a block and a half?

[Joe]

Isn't that giant parking lot ONE BLOCK north of the Arena totally free during the work day?

I don't see any reason why parking should prevent them from having lunch business, at any rate.

[vicupstate]

Let's hope they don't face the same fate as the previous owners.  I hate always sounding so cynical, but after seeing all the ups and downs of these businesses trying to survive Downtown, its hard not to.  Good luck. I hope they do well.

Amen.  This group seems to have a lot of experience in the restaurant business, so maybe they will pull it out.  I hope the est for them too.

I wish the entire Sports district had been configured differently.  It is just a collection of stand-alone, seldom used, venues with no supporting businesses or real linkage to the rest of DT, except a trolley that gets little use.     

[adamh0903]

I saw them working on this place last night, looks good. I like the way the Sports Complex is laid out, I think the fairgrounds is the facility thats out of place.

[thelakelander]

Would you like the Sports Complex better if you were able to park and dine nearby before an event or hang around in an entertainment establishment outside of the stadium/arena/ballpark after an event?



This is the element that was left out of the Sports District, which is why most will complain about the layout.

[copperfiend]

The First Coast News campus doesn't help either.

[Jason]

It would only take a couple strategically placed mixed use buildings around the arena and ballpark mixed with some ground level retail/restaraunts built into the garages to create a a vibrant sports district.

[thelakelander]

This is the main problem with the search, destroy and wait for a savior method of urban renewal.  Little start up establishments, such as the Gas Knob typically can't afford the SJTC type lease rates associated with new mega developments.  Mega urban developments typically don't come until an area is littered with local spots and urban pioneers.  Keeping existing building stock and integrating sports facilities into their built surroundings has been the most successful way of bringing in complementing development.

Since we've torn down just about everything in that area for surface parking, it remains disconnected with us left to wait for a knight riding in on a golden horse to save us, instead of the smaller guys making a change one building at a time.

Although, if the city would have followed its own street retail requirement with the garages, at least the area between Duval and Adams could have sprung up as a small dining and sports entertainment related strip.

[obie1]

Stay positive people. How can you have a major city without an Irish bar or a sports bar or better yet both at the same time?

[stephenc]

Stay positive people. How can you have a major city without an Irish bar or a sports bar or better yet both at the same time?

Well, we do have Lynch's and Fly's Ties at the beach. Dont know about any in town, so this will be nice. I do hate driving from lakeshore to Jax Beach. Oughta get a hotel room out there when I do that.

[SL32205]

Let's hope they don't face the same fate as the previous owners.  I hate always sounding so cynical, but after seeing all the ups and downs of these businesses trying to survive Downtown, its hard not to.  Good luck. I hope they do well.

Amen.  This group seems to have a lot of experience in the restaurant business, so maybe they will pull it out.  I hope the est for them too.

I wish the entire Sports district had been configured differently.  It is just a collection of stand-alone, seldom used, venues with no supporting businesses or real linkage to the rest of DT, except a trolley that gets little use.     

Without question the "sports complex" idea is a poorly conceived and outdated concept.  The Baseball Grounds should've been tied into the urban fabric as has been done in San Diego, Memphis, Louisville, and many other cities...  Although several thousand fans come to ballgames nearly 80 days/year, the location of the ballpark doesn't contribute significantly to downtown.

[Steve]

Without question the "sports complex" idea is a poorly conceived and outdated concept.  The Baseball Grounds should've been tied into the urban fabric as has been done in San Diego, Memphis, Louisville, and many other cities...  Although several thousand fans come to ballgames nearly 80 days/year, the location of the ballpark doesn't contribute significantly to downtown.

The sports complex concept could work fine - the problem is that the only buildings still standing over there are the Arena, Ballpark, and Stadium.  We missed a HUGE opportunity by not at least putting in the framework into the parking garages for retail on the ground floor  -who knows what that area could look like in 15 years. I still can not get over that terrible move.

In any event, the sports complex being disconnected from downtown is a problem, but it doesn't have to be disconnected - we have made it so.  A sports complex doesn't have to be the Meadowlands (four venues in the middle of nowhere.  It could be like Detroit - where their sports complex integrates pretty well with their downtown.