Visionary Yacht Club Owner and Downtown Jax!

[Bill Hoff]

This is for real, ya'll.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/mb/news/local/consumer/on-your-side/downtown-development-idea-focuses-on-the-landing-and-mccoys-creek/375435753

My favorite part is the mini-river/moat around the Landing.

[TimmyB]

It looks like a great idea.  It certainly would be an improvement over what's there right now, but is this another pie in the sky thing, or do you think he really has a chance with this?

[Keith-N-Jax]

How long before this is placed in the archives?

[acme54321]

Any idea of what the Riverside bridge clearance is over McCoys creek?  I do think it would be kind of cool if it was opened back up to small boats and lined with businesses.  A lot of it was channelized  for barges back in the day and the bulkheads are still along the creek in spots.

[acme54321]

Any idea of what the Riverside bridge clearance is over McCoys creek?  I do think it would be kind of cool if it was opened back up to small boats and lined with businesses, not that it will ever happen.  A lot of it was channelized  for barges back in the day and the bulkheads are still along the creek in spots.

[JaGoaT]

Good well thought out plan I hope someone with a lot of money decides to back this

[pears045]

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-sep-downtowns-best-kept-secret-mccoys-creek

[KenFSU]

It looks like a great idea.  It certainly would be an improvement over what's there right now, but is this another pie in the sky thing, or do you think he really has a chance with this?

Pie in the sky.

Personally, I think it's a great idea, but there are a lot of moving parts here, as well as a lot of private property.

First and foremost is Times-Union property, which much of the concept seems to be predicated upon. It's nice that they're willing to entertain the idea, but is Morris really going to effectively cut a very valuable piece of property in half prior to selling it just to accommodate such an idea? Not even sure how you get vehicles into that portion of the property on the right with a creek cutting through it. That Riverside clearance doesn't look too high either.



Second is the cleanup of McCoys Creek itself. From what I understand, that water is disgusting and bulkheads are sparse and damaged. The cleanup work that would be necessary just to make way for such a project would cost millions upon millions of dollars.

As far as the Landing goes, the city owns the land, not the mall, and we obviously can't do anything without Tony Sleiman's approval, and a metric shit ton of city financing. Plus, we're already constructing an amphitheater over in the stadium district.

On bridge fountains, someone else might be able to come up with something, but I've only ever seen this used in waterways that boats can't pass through (see the Banpo Bridge in South Korea). Seems like the most gimmicky part of the proposal to me, and the most counter intuitive to an active river. We've tried similar gimmickry in the past, with installing dramatic lighting on all of our bridges prior to the Super Bowl, and look at what a draw that turned out to be.



I have the same navigation and utility concerns with the world's largest fountain being placed in the middle of the St. Johns River as well. You want people to be able to use the river, and I'm not so sure if that works if their jet ski is being blasted 20 stories into the air while they ride.

Pardon my crude late evening 'shop, but Coastline seems like it would be a much better place for a fountain, particularly if the current is too strong to allow for active use here. Would also provide a nice focal point for the riverwalk as it winds around the newly exposed river.



You know me, I'm almost always optimistic about these things, and it's certainly impressive that he's already gotten an audience with Shad Khan, but logistically, this seems like a very difficult project to pull off.

Love the outside of the box thinking though, and there's some really great ideas within the video (particularly, the need for Jacksonville to distinguish itself via water, rather than land), just question the feasibility.

All that said, exciting times, right?

These last few months have felt like the most active in terms of proposals, movement, and pie-in-the-skies since the pre-recession boom. Hopefully we come out of this one with more progress than the last. 

[Keith-N-Jax]

A fountain would nice there, I hope they just dont leave that open and bare

[copperfiend]

Seems like one of those projects that we'll be chuckling about in a few years.

Remember that time...

[Bill Hoff]

This is for real, ya'll.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/mb/news/local/consumer/on-your-side/downtown-development-idea-focuses-on-the-landing-and-mccoys-creek/375435753

My favorite part is the mini-river/moat around the Landing.

I was being sarcastic. This is ridiculous on many levels. Good grief.

[Jimmy]

This would go well with those hot dog carts on the Main Street Bridge.

[FlaBoy]

One thing I promise you is we don't need another fountain.

The Bridges with waterfalls thing is cool but would be awful for boaters...but I guess he is a yacht man and would know more than me about it.  Maybe something on the Main Street Bridge would be cool on the hour or something that is identifiable.

The most interesting aspect to this idea is making McCoy's Creek navigable. His vision of developing all the way up McCoys is not feasible especially with the railroad right there (which I am sure CSX doesn't want additional liability running around its tracks) but there are spots for redevelopment for sure. I could see a developer in the future wanting to restore access to the Creek up to Riverside Avenue to add additional water components to their property.

Maybe it would be cool just to have a "wild river" running through our urban areas that is cleaned up and can be used for kayaking.

BTW, Hogan's Creek may make more sense for the type of development sought especially if the overpasses come down one day from the Hart.

[TimmyB]

This is for real, ya'll.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/mb/news/local/consumer/on-your-side/downtown-development-idea-focuses-on-the-landing-and-mccoys-creek/375435753

My favorite part is the mini-river/moat around the Landing.

I was being sarcastic. This is ridiculous on many levels. Good grief.

I was hoping you weren't being sarcastic, but I feared the worst!  DT needs SOMETHING to happen.  Not many places have this much waterfront with this much potential and so little to actually offer for people to come down there.

[coredumped]

As a boater, the fountain in the middle of the river is a disaster waiting to happen. We have had 2 large ships crash in to something as big as the bridges in the past few years, they're certainly not going to see the fountain.

Ideally when the Mathews bridge is replaced with something higher, we could get a cruise port downtown. It still won't accommodate the larger ships because of the Dame's point, but it would be a start. (Dame's point should be a tunnel, but that's another topic).