Downtown's Latest Park an Afterthought?

[Ocklawaha]

now, looking at the picture. that space is large enough to support the planting of live oaks! Plenty of room for them to grow and mature majestically.

What this place needs is a healthy planting of the Giant Sequoia Redwood's, then in 1,000 years or so, nobody would have to look at that damn ugly building.

[Jaxson]

Thankfully, it is not too late to create something from this space in front of the courthouse.  Sure, we could have used a little more creativity with this space a little earlier than now, but I still see great potential...

[jcjohnpaint]

Yeah it sure is better as a clean slate than having a big blvd running through it. 

[mtraininjax]

Courthouse Lawn is more accurate than Park.

So how much water will this "lawn" require? Any plans on using grey water from the building, as a model of what the city can do for conservation? Hard to cast the first stone, if you are not practicing what you preach. Oh, wait, we don't preach anything here, so go ahead and water on all days.

[Noone]

Courthouse Lawn is more accurate than Park.

So how much water will this "lawn" require? Any plans on using grey water from the building, as a model of what the city can do for conservation? Hard to cast the first stone, if you are not practicing what you preach. Oh, wait, we don't preach anything here, so go ahead and water on all days.

I recently asked the question on 690 WOKV Q&A with JEA with Gerry Boyce and Roxy Tyler if reclaimed water was being used at the new $350,000,000 courthouse. They didn't know but was told to tune in the following week for the follow up. Didn't catch all the show the following week so I don't know the answer. Does anyone?

[officerk]

I missed someting big.. and I appologize for this... if one of you could humor me I would appreciate it... I work shift work and frequenlty miss "big news" such as why Jacksonville needed a $350 MILLION court house to begin with? I did catch that court hearings were delayed by safety issues in opening it (given my line of work, I pay attention to court cases). But in a city where cuts are being made left and right to schools, police, fire and many other public service agencies I am at a loss as to why a court house with such a high price tag was required? I am assuming that there were issues with the former court house that were beyond repair or cost prohibitive and thus it was more fiscally responsible to build new but $350 million just seems exhobitant in a city that is screaming broke.

[tufsu1]

^ simple....population growth and the ever increasing use of our judicial system.

the old courthouse was built in the 1950s and had already been outgrown in the 1970s...in fact, the state pretty much required Duval County to build a new courthouse over 20 years ago.

[officerk]

ok... are you saying the building was in disrepair, did not have enough court rooms to handle the case load or just architecturally/aesthetically out of date? All of the above?
but that did not answer the $350 million price tag question... It is not so much the new building I am questioning as the cost of the new building, if the new building was in fact NEEDED and not just WANTED.  The building looks to be pretty extravagant from the photos shown.  Could it not have been a bit more utilitarian for $100 million or so less and had that money put to more beneficial use than a building and a "park" that is not very park-like?  I am thinking that our schools, police, fire and rescue services that have been getting cut repeatedly could have put the money to good use.

[Charles Hunter]

There have been several discussions here at MJ decrying the cost over-runs on the Court House.  But the money used for the CH could not have gone to schools, teachers, firefighters or the police.  It was part of the Better Jacksonville Plan referendum to finance certain, specified, capital projects.

[officerk]

ah hah... that I do understand... sort of... I am familiar with once funded must be spent in that manner alone... though I don't truly "understand" as I see wasteful spending so many times with it...

[JFman00]

The Bronx's new shiny courthouse for a population twice that of Duval is 75k sqft smaller with an underground parking garage and bomb-proof windows for $425 million on a 2x1 block footprint. The cost overruns for the Bronx Hall of Justice are attributed to site contamination, underground waterway discovered during construction. additional security features (construction began weeks before 9/11) and problems with the underground parking structure. I like theirs better.

[I-10east]

Ah, I'm in that "Pull up any random courthouse pic in the US that supposed to be 'WAY better' than Jax's courthouse" part of MJ again, how delightful.

[JFman00]

Glad you love them. Here's more. http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2012/04/hit-and-miss-architecture-new-courthouses/1861/ And ours gets a shout out too! "Jacksonville's new Duval County courthouse, due to open this year, looks a bit like something an 18th century architect might have dreamed up to be 'futuristic.'"

[thelakelander]

Speaking of other city's courthouses, yesterday I came across this new courthouse in downtown Columbus, OH.  Btw, I was very impressed with Columbus' downtown pedestrian level vibe.  It was head and shoulders above Charlotte's (another city I stopped in).

Franklin County’s new $105 million Common Pleas Courthouse opened its doors Monday morning, welcoming 17 judges and nine magistrates who will administer justice in the seven-story, 325,000-square-foot building.

The building at the northwest corner of High and Mound streets in downtown Columbus was scheduled to open in February, but problems with reception for police radios in the building caused the delay.

The courthouse replaces the overcrowded and outdated Hall of Justice building, a 30-year-old structure that will be overhauled but whose tenants have yet to be determined by county officials.

The new courthouse has 32 courtrooms and 33 holding cells for prisoners awaiting court appearances. A $20 million system of tunnels and street-level pavilion connect the courthouse to the county offices complex across Mound Street.

Much of the design work on the courthouse focused on making the building environmentally friendly. That includes a sod-like green roof to reduce storm-water runoff into city sewers, a building layout designed to reduce heating and cooling loads, low-flow and dual-flush plumbing fixtures and exterior sun shades to cut glare and heat gain.

There also is a rain garden and collection tank to catch and store water for irrigation of courthouse landscaping and a series of high windows help pull daylight to illuminated interior spaces.

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2011/06/06/new-franklin-county-courthouse-open.html