A Vision For The Shipyards

[JeffreyS]

In the meantime I would love to see the space made available to one of the flag football leagues in the area.  A couple of them already draw from a large area everyone drives to them. The leagues are grown men a few hundred every weekend and they just require flat grassy fields. Regular activity you know.

[Captain Zissou]

it looks pretty, but i prefer functionality to appearance when it comes to bridges.  crazy, i know.

It's a pedestrian footbridge that rotates upwards to allow boats to pass underneath.  I don't see how much more functional you could get with a bridge....??  A hot dog cart??

[fieldafm]

Overall, I was really impressed.

The presentation started off with the comment 'When investors look at a community they look at the quality of the airport and the quality of downtown'

Integrating the 680' public pier wasnt a common theme, but that was to be expected as Im quite sure the students weren't aware of this promise given to the citizens of Jacksonville. 

Another note of interest was the common theme about tearing down the Hart Expressway overpass.  In fact one of the groups(I believe Defines the Edges) had a page in their process book that really brings it home with the quote 'If a major road is making a city less livable and vital place than it would otherwise be, in many cases everyone benefits when politicians have the vision and guts to tear it down'

Check out their absolutely correct reasoning for tearing down the expressway:




Another group(believe Redifining a City) hit on a theme repeated in some previous articles on this site, defining the Shipyards site with the maritime uses that once made the site such a bustling place of activity.


But I was particularly fascinated by one group's complete intuitive understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing our urban core, and they highlighted excellent solutions in their concept.  That was the work of Amie Calisti and John Takots: Everyday Urban Experience.  Downtown Jacksonville's problems are marvelously complex in their simplicity.  As Jim Bailey once quoted on here, we need to hit more base hits.  I think that sums up the DT opportunity quite well.  The fixes are quite easy and they all revert back to the  connectivity and street level interaction of a once proud urban core.  Its fascinatingly complex that people fail to take these simple steps to create a better downtown and instead focus on swinging for the fences when the count is 3-0 and the throw is to the outside.

Their concept had specific uses for a varied level of potential users.  So, the woman who works downtown and lives in the suburbs would want to make this space a destination... as would the suburban family... as would the young urban professional, and so on.  This hits on Stephen's point quite well... ensuring it is an active space ensures it will become a destination.  My concept, the Bay Street Pier Park specifically addresses this issue... which is why as Noone branded it, the BSPP would become Jacksonvillle's front porch to the river.

The EUE concept had a public and private marina(another common theme amongst the groups) water taxi access(absolutely needed IMO), active green space, public restrooms(something incorporated in my concept), but it also integrated Hogans Creek.  Amie commented that she had spoken with a gentleman who walks the Klutho parks daily, but that in its present condition it is not attractive for people to use.  Their concept included cleaning up the green beltway that is Hogans Creek and also noted that opening up the shorelines naturally and extending the greenway would let the creek cleanse itself as a proper ecosystem should.  They had both bike rentals and kayak rentals incorporated in this concept(as we have been advocating for) so that the public can experience and connect with our American Heritage River in a deeply personal way. 

The pedestrian bridge you guys are talking about actually links the site together, and is essentially a better/wider/more thoughtful expansion of the existing Hogans Creek footbridge at the mouth of the creek.  It does not impede boat traffic on the river in any way shape or form.  Kayaks are what Hogans can sustain, not recreational power boat traffic.

Another simplisticly brilliant part of the plan was integrating the A Philip Randolph Commercial Corridor.  This is something we have discussed on this site in detail in the past.  The city has sunk money into upgrading the physcial facilities of this once proud commercial corridor, however it suffers from desolation b/c it doesnt address the issue of connectivity.  For the Landmar site to work, it has to connect and bridge the gap b/w the districts it border.

No grand $200k studies were needed, just intuitive minds that saw simple solutions to simple problems.  I hope when they graduate, both Amie and John chose to find gainful employment in the Planning Department in the City of Jacksonville.

[fieldafm]

Here is a more detailed look at their plan:

[KuroiKetsunoHana]

It's a pedestrian footbridge that rotates upwards to allow boats to pass underneath.  I don't see how much more functional you could get with a bridge....??  A hot dog cart??

looked to me like it stays in the up position.

[Ocklawaha]

Scrap the bridge and anchor these terminals with Skyway-bus-streetcar-pedestrian and bikeways.

OCKLAWAHA

[wsansewjs]

Scrap the bridge and anchor these terminals with Skyway-bus-streetcar-pedestrian and bikeways.

OCKLAWAHA

Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!


-Josh

[Charles Hunter]

The bridge in question is the chevron-shaped one in Design #2 across the St. Johns (to JEA site?), not the one across Hogan's Creek.

Didn't a developer - when all those developments that never happened were announced -  propose gondolas, like in Ock's picture, from the Southbank/JEA site to the Stadium area?

Do any of the proposals discuss what to do with Maxwell House? Especially the ones that propose getting rid of JSO and the Jail?  Any that suggest getting rid of Maxwell House are non-starters.

[thelakelander]

Altough it appears some of the plant's property was converted into green space, I believe all felt that Maxwell House was an unique historic asset and that facility became a part of their overall plans.

Btw, I see in the graphics Fieldafm posted, one project included a coffee museum just east of the main plant.

[Noone]

Integrating the 680' public pier wasn't a common theme, but that was to be expected as I'm quite sure the students weren't aware of this promise given to the citizens of Jacksonville.

 My concept, the Bay Street Pier Park specifically addresses this issue... which is why as Noone branded it, the BSPP would become Jacksonville's front porch to the river.

]

Field,

They all did a good job.

As I approached each piece of work I mentioned to the students that I was interested in your approach to the waterfront points like Hogans Creek and the pier. And your absolutely right that they were unaware of the Promised 680' Downtown Public Pier. How would it have changed the presentations?

So what made the presentation exciting for me was when they did incorporate the pier in the design. Some teams did.

Maria and Josh are getting big pats on the back from me. At the end of their presentation Josh mentioned the use of containers for economic opportunity. What an observation. Maria mentioned the port and I couldn't agree more. So using a container would make the statement that we are a port city. Can't wait to share this with Gov. elect Scott again. The commissioners of FIND will appreciate it to.

I like the Bay Street Pier Park name and it highlights Bay St. and the future potential to recapture that Super Bowl week and just make the street a hub of vibrancy.

As to Jacksonville's front porch to the river Southern style. Hat goes off to North Miami for that one.

Everyone needs to remember that its an election cycle. JCCI is in the middle of a new study. Some of these concepts will happen.  

What needs to happen first.

Keep score.

[Ocklawaha]

Altough it appears some of the plant's property was converted into green space, I believe all felt that Maxwell House was an unique historic asset and that facility became a part of their overall plans.

Just one more reason to close it and blow it up! It's the Jacksonville way...





Seriously though, there WAS a plan to hang a "aerial rope cable car", "ropeway," or "aerial tram" across the river from the peninsula building area to the stadium. As I Recall an Australian company worked on some pretty advanced planning for the purpose of a demonstration project.

As I have some experience with this mode let me get everyone up to speed.

NUMBER ONE... in my first photo (red cable tram crossing a river)... IT'S NOT A GONDOLA!

Gondola's: "aerial lift," "gondola lift," or "cable car," are a type of aerial cable system where the cable moves in a continuous loop and the cars simply hang on the moving cable. Ski resorts and amusement parks use the gondola system to move large masses of people at a very low cost, likewise around the world cities are discovering them too.

A  "aerial rope cable tram", or more properly in the USA "aerial tram" is like a light rail vehicle that moves along a suspended track made of a cable or typically cables - 2, usually with an operator, though it can be automated.

When I left Medellin, Colombia we had one system up and running with 2 terminals and several intermediate stations, one under construction, and 3 more planned. The system was inexpensive enough (about 16 million per mile, straight up the Andes) that it operates fare-free and the old railroader must tell you it is as impressive as hell itself. Beautiful, and even better when the economies are realized.



MEDELLIN METROCABLE SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS:

Metrocable - line K: Andalusia, Popular, Santo Domingo Savio

Type of System
Uncoupleable monocable gondola

Length of the route
2072 ms

Elevation
399 ms

Speed of the system
5 m/second

Number of support pilings
20

Energy
Electrical (zero emissions)

Diameter of the cable and weight
51 mm compact soul 42 tons

Installed capacity (passengers/hour)
3,000

Width of the route
5.7 ms

Constructed area total
10.200 m2

Total urban area
9.000 m2

Number of cars
93 with capacity for 10 users c/u

Distance between the cabins
60 ms

Frequency
12 sec.

Engineering specifications
Cabins are mfd. by Diamond corp., of aluminum, with internal illumination and interior communications. Powered by solar cells affixed to the roof of each cabin.

Perhaps we should do a little MJ study article on "Metrocable Jacksonville?"

OCKLAWAHA

[fieldafm]

If anyone is interested in checking these out sometime next week, let me know and I'll buy you a cup of joe at Chamblins or Desert Rider(bonus points if its on taco day)... all I ask in return is to write and call your councilperson about the importance of this property, specifically public access to the pier and the revitilization and activation of the Hogans Creek/Klutho Green Beltway

[Overstreet]

Pedestrian bridge that rotates up for boat access.  How long do you suppose it would take to get the pedestrians off the bridge to let a boat pass?

Demo the jail........JSO..........Maxwell House....? What's next?  Remove Doro Fixtures? Maybe the dreamers are getting carried away with it. We completed with New Jersey to keep Maxwell House and the jobs. Doro is a third generation millwork and fixture company operating out of some old buildings. In fact the shop with the main carpenter shop is a former hotel from 1910. Remove the ramps for the Hart? Best way in /out of sports area.

Ideas and dreaming out of the "box” are fine, but somewhere the practical side will come into the equation and modify or mediate them.

[thelakelander]

Everyone should keep in mind that this was a college design project by a school located in another state, with two students/idea for FREE.  If I've learned anything from being apart of this site, its that Jacksonville's complexities can't be rounded up and completely understood in less than a semester.  Given that, I think the work all of these groups did is pretty impressive.  If I were taking things from this exercise, I'd mix many of the general themes these projects highlighted (riverfront accessibility, extending the street grid, stronger connectivity on both of the site's ends, sustainability, mixed uses, taking advantage of Hogans Creek, etc. with the realities (Maxwell House, Hart Bridge ramps, etc.) of the surrounding context to create a strong realistic vision.

[BridgeTroll]

Everyone should keep in mind that this was a college design project by a school located in another state, with two students/idea for FREE.  If I've learned anything from being apart of this site, its that Jacksonville's complexities can't be rounded up and completely understood in less than a semester.  Given that, I think the work all of these groups did is pretty impressive.

I agree Lake...