Aquarium could be coming to Jacksonville?

[thelakelander]

While I am not sure it is a good idea, I am not sure i understand the talk that it would be an isolated aquarium being built necessarily.   The JBj article states they have had discussions with Mark Lamping of the Jaguars who would most likely lead any of Khan's involvement with the Shipyards redevelopment. So it at least sounds like they are exploring it as a part of the overall development of the Shipyards.

Khan doesn't own the shipyards site.  At this point in time, there's no redeveloment plan or timeline for it either.  Maybe something changes in upcoming years but that remains to be seen in 2014.

[edjax]

^^Well at this point there is no contract to build an aquarium at the shipyard site either and wow. It may not happen in 2014 either.

[AuditoreEnterprise]

^^Well at this point there is no contract to build an aquarium at the shipyard site either and wow. It may not happen in 2014 either.

off topic, but just out of curiosity this isn't referring to that tiny yard over by maxwell house right?

[thelakelander]

^^Well at this point there is no contract to build an aquarium at the shipyard site either and wow. It may not happen in 2014 either.

Right. but one would assume that you'd like such investments to be an actual success instead of failure?  If so, there's a process that's being ignored that really needs to take place.

[edjax]

Maybe the process is taking place.  At this point it is all pretty speculative. Maybe they will come out in a month and say hey you know what that site does not really make sense or even perhaps the whole idea may not make sense now that we have done further research.  Sorta like mr. Williams and his Davis building idea.  Who knows. My point was everyone was stating what a bad idea to place it in an isolated area by itself and expect it to be anything, but I was just pointing out that it possibly could be just part of a much bigger plan for the Shipyards property since they indicated they have had discussions with Lamping. And yea I am quite aware Khan does not own the Shipyards site, but he has been tied with a potential desire to get involved with its development. 

[edjax]

^^Well at this point there is no contract to build an aquarium at the shipyard site either and wow. It may not happen in 2014 either.

off topic, but just out of curiosity this isn't referring to that tiny yard over by maxwell house right?

Yea. It goes from that point down to Metropolitan Park. It is around 30 acres.

[AuditoreEnterprise]

^^Well at this point there is no contract to build an aquarium at the shipyard site either and wow. It may not happen in 2014 either.

off topic, but just out of curiosity this isn't referring to that tiny yard over by maxwell house right?

Yea. It goes from that point down to Metropolitan Park. It is around 30 acres.

Oh ok I was under the impression they were going to either use that tiny slip or put it where metro park is currently at. I think this idea just might work then... It is close enough to connect that side to center downtown. hmmm I am curious now to see where they go from here.

[thelakelander]

Maybe the process is taking place.  At this point it is all pretty speculative. Maybe they will come out in a month and say hey you know what that site does not really make sense or even perhaps the whole idea may not make sense now that we have done further research.  Sorta like mr. Williams and his Davis building idea.  Who knows. My point was everyone was stating what a bad idea to place it in an isolated area by itself and expect it to be anything, but I was just pointing out that it possibly could be just part of a much bigger plan for the Shipyards property since they indicated they have had discussions with Lamping. And yea I am quite aware Khan does not own the Shipyards site, but he has been tied with a potential desire to get involved with its development.

Yes, I understood. Even in this scenario, one should question and be concerned about the scale factor. Unless, people are desiring to shift, spread out potential activity, or wait 30 years for vibrancy to happen, these locations (shipyards included) are isolated in comparison with many of the places (like Chattanooga and Baltimore) that have been mentioned.

For example, here is an aerial of the Inner Harbor:



Just about all of it fits within the aerial highlighted in red below:



Scaled aerials indicate that Baltimore's Inner Harbor would cover portions of the North and Southbanks between the Acosta Bridge and Berkman Plaza.  On foot, what seems like a large vibrant waterfront district in Baltimore, would take up one third of Downtown Jacksonville's waterfront.



If one takes the Chattanooga or Baltimore Inner Harbor path, all of these new uses that everyone wants to see don't happen in out-of-the-way spots like the Shipyards or Metropolitan Park.  Instead, the focus would become all the surface parking lots and underutilized properties sitting closer to the heart of the downtown waterfront.

[thelakelander]

Btw, some random waterfront Chattanooga shots:

[Noone]

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing.

[IrvAdams]

^Jax Liquors?

[thelakelander]

Yeah, that was kind of crazy running into that name, one or two blocks from the Tennessee Aquarium.

[thelakelander]

A few more pics.  I have about 500 images from the Chattanooga trip between two cameras.  I plan to upload the second photo card's images into our photo gallery later tonight, after I get back to town.

[jcjohnpaint]

Wow people walking around.  That might be the key!
Thanks for posting.  Really hope to get up there someday. 

[thelakelander]

Lots of people walk when there is something worth walking to on every single contiguous block. That's the thing that really stands out in Chattanooga. The environment there changes a lot when surface lots start dominating or equally sharing sidewalk frontage with buildings and green space. Apply this to the Shipyards or Metropolitan Park sites and you may discover we'll need 30 years and billions in private investment to create the scene shown in those Chattanooga images. Fill in the surface lots and underutilized spaces between the Hyatt and Acosta Bridge and such a scene could happen in less than 10.