Southbank Riverwalk Plan Unveiled

[rjp2008]

"i think they should install a slip-n-slide into the river  "


HA!

[Tacachale]

I think an outdoor amphitheater on the river would be an amazing draw to the city, for both residents & visitors. There's certainly enough currently wasted space for one. I don't think the city quite realizes what it has there with the river running right through its downtown. It's badly underutilized IMO.

Something like the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati comes to mind. Its an awesome venue (one of my favs actually). Lots of seating, big lawn, river in the background from the stage with boats passing by, etc. And it gets top acts too from a bunch of genres (something we don't get a lot of here for a town of this size).

Oh, it would be awesome. But it'll never happen. Not that close to a neighborhood, anyway.

[Tacachale]

The JEA site is the key though. Land a huge fish (major international company) to park their corporate headquarters and college there, and that Riverwalk would be CROWDED daily.

Ding ding ding. 

There is already an outdoor venue on the other side of the river.  With PLENTY of parking for the masses.  What would make a duplicate venue on the southbank any better? 

What we need is someone to buy the JEA site and develop it into a dense business/mixed use area, anchored by some sort of serious business that employs a lot of people.  Then I could see the school board selling out for more development.

Hopefully the new Atlantic/I95 interchange will make the site look a little more promising to someone.

An amphitheater done right wouldn't duplicate the Met Park pavilion, it would replace it. The current pavilion has a capacity of about 3000 and is obsolete for modern outdoor concerts. And it's underused even for its current capabilities.

The city's amphitheater plan back in the '90s would have replaced the pavilion with a modern amphitheater with a capacity of up to 7000 under the cover. That would have helped fill our gap in mid-sized venues, and additionally, there would have been room for 10,000 or so removable seats outside the cover, making it available for large-scale concerts and other events like festivals. Unfortunately a confederacy of dunces blocked the project.

We're sorely lacking in venues like this in Jacksonville. We have the Arena, which seats 15,000, and a number of small venues all over town. But we have few mid-sized venues, and those we do have are generally unideal for the type of shows and events we could be attracting. And it's not just Jacksonville; the rest of Florida is similar. The result of it all is that a lot of acts just skip the state entirely.

[Atari007]

Frankly there is no reason for a boater to even travel to the Southbank as all the action is at the Landing anyway.

Sorry.  This made me chuckle a little. 

[Noone]

CRA/DIA in the USA wrapping up. 2014 is a long way from 2025. What are the 24/7 Public Access components to this? Heard of a possible kayak launch next to the Main St. Bridge. Positive. What is the Public Access component to the new floating dock that is being built? Anyone?

[mtraininjax]

An amphitheater done right wouldn't duplicate the Met Park pavilion, it would replace it. The current pavilion has a capacity of about 3000 and is obsolete for modern outdoor concerts. And it's underused even for its current capabilities.

The city's amphitheater plan back in the '90s would have replaced the pavilion with a modern amphitheater with a capacity of up to 7000 under the cover. That would have helped fill our gap in mid-sized venues, and additionally, there would have been room for 10,000 or so removable seats outside the cover, making it available for large-scale concerts and other events like festivals. Unfortunately a confederacy of dunces blocked the project.

We're sorely lacking in venues like this in Jacksonville. We have the Arena, which seats 15,000, and a number of small venues all over town. But we have few mid-sized venues, and those we do have are generally unideal for the type of shows and events we could be attracting. And it's not just Jacksonville; the rest of Florida is similar. The result of it all is that a lot of acts just skip the state entirely.

I cannot believe that the Arena is 10 years old, was built in 2003. Yeah, 15000 seats is a tough nut to crack, but hey, the Times Union Center holds 2900 where I have seen Seinfeld, heard the Goo Goo Dolls play, and yes, even Chicago, so it CAN be used to provide good value in concerts.

The real question has always been, WTF is SMG doing to compete with St. Augustine and is the city losing money due to an antiquated company with backward policies, when SAU is fresh, new and sets NEW attendance records every year.

Would i love to see a 7000 seat amphitheatre in Jax at Metro or the old Southside Generation Station, I sure would, but I'd much rather see our facilities be used on a nightly basis, because sure as we build it, we will put the same SMG in charge of it and all we will hear will be crickets on most nights.

[tufsu1]

Industry reports have shown that the Arena is one of the more successful (highest grossing?) facilities in its class

[Noone]

This project according to District 4 should come before the Jacksonville Waterways Commission. Very Positive. The 24/7 Public/Private/ Partnership component should be the number one focus as it relates to the St. Johns River our American Heritage River a FEDERAL Initiative in our new 3 mile Riverfront highly restricted DIA zone.

Just one media group contact Don Redman District 4 904-630-1394 to follow up on this.

[Noone]

Has anyone seen the minutes from the last Waterways meeting? Councilman Redman and Scott Wilson please share with everyone the POSITIVE benefits of the new floating dock on the Southbank.

RAM dock only opened when RAM is open. NOT GOOD.
Super Duper Secret FIND meeting one day out. Anyone going? Ask Scott and Don how many meetings that they have attended. Don't be afraid to ASK.