Vistor Center for Jacksonville?

[Tacachale]

The Tourist Development Council and Council President Boyer want the city to build a "museum-like" visitor center like the ones in St. Augustine and Savannah.

Tourism council wants a visitor center for Jacksonville
June 14, 2017
David Bauerlein

With eyes on what St. Augustine and Savannah have built, the Duval County Tourist Development Council decided Wednesday to go back for a second round of bids in the attempt to set up a museum-like visitor center in Jacksonville.

City Council President Lori Boyer, who doubles as chairwoman of the tourism board, said, "We have great history. ... We have great amenities. Why can't we have a visitor center of that quality?"

Boyer said the effort might require more money than the city has devoted in the past to its visitor centers, but it could be worth it if the next round of bids can bring proposals for how to boost the current level of service.

"You want to be a tourist destination? Let's be a tourist destination," Boyer said. "If we're going to spend $7 million on promoting tourism, let's get some mojo out of it."

...

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2017-06-14/tourism-council-wants-visitor-center-jacksonville

The idea is that we spend $7 million a year in tourist development, but don't have anything but a few storefronts run by Visit Jacksonville at the Landing, Greenleaf Building, Jax Beach, and the airport, whereas other cities devote whole buildings to it (personally, I think the St. Augustine visitor center is pretty sterile and bland, but the Savannah center located in an old train terminal is pretty impressive.)

Tourism bureau services bids were out, but the Tourist Development Council has axed all of them, finding them underwhelming for the money they'd get largely because they still wouldn't have an actual visitor center (Visit Jacksonville did win the bids to run conventions and to co-run marketing with Dalton Agency).

Costs, it's a good idea to have a visitor center and museum as a focal point downtown. If we were smart, we could build it out by that big garage that's planned across from the Laura Street Trio. It wouldn't hurt to have a real visitor's center in Jax Beach as well, and possibly in the Atlantic/Neptune Beach Town Center area.

[thelakelander]

Why not the Snyder Memorial Church?  COJ already owns it and it would be a unique venue.  Other than that, I'd settle for something in a revamped Landing.

[Tacachale]

^Snyder would be an awesome location. Something in a revamped Landing would work too, but the emphasis is on "revamped". It's not exactly a showpiece in its current state for a $7 million project.

[FlaBoy]

Why not the Snyder Memorial Church?  COJ already owns it and it would be a unique venue.  Other than that, I'd settle for something in a revamped Landing.

Maybe if you could combine it with a restaurant or something that engages Laura and Hemming. In all honesty, this should probably be part of a larger discussion of a new convention center downtown and maybe with the Jacksonville Historic Society.

[Keith-N-Jax]

The Landing is the best option no need to build anything, I doubt many tourist visit the city/DT area and do not go to the Landing

[dbjax]

I think Snyder Memorial Church would be a perfect location for something. I've always thought a restaurant there would be unique and I would have wanted to engage in that (in a different lifetime), but I could totally see the Visitor Center at the front door to City Hall.

[spuwho]

Why not the Snyder Memorial Church?  COJ already owns it and it would be a unique venue.  Other than that, I'd settle for something in a revamped Landing.

Excellent suggestion.

[KenFSU]

^Like the idea in principal, but I'm not crazy about the opportunity cost. Personally, I'd rather see the city sell Snyder to someone willing to go the bar/grill/live music route. Could be a game-changer for Hemming, and with so much dead space already surrounding the park outside of business hours, I'd be nervous about adding another 9:00 to 5:00 tenet to the perimeter.

[Tacachale]

^I had a conversation about this tonight and another downside of Snyder as a visitor center is parking. Parking is our great boogieman, but successful centers in St Augie and Savannah (and others like a Tampa) have dedicated parking for the visitors who are there in cars. Snyder doesn't have that without going a block or so (or tearing down a building).

On a similar note, the Landing also suffers from inacseibility, in addition to not being an especially impressive face to show newcomers. It's not something you can get in and out of easily, driving or walking.

[thelakelander]

Lol...parking?  If that's our real boogieman, then every true urban city has to deal with it.  In a place like New Orleans, the visitors center is next to Jackson Square. It's more difficult to get to that spot from I-10 than any site that Jax can bring to the table. Don't even get started on parking availability and accessibility in the French Quarter. 

Btw, bus groups access the Landing and public library just fine.  Unless we'd only consider something with a big asphalt parking lot next to the front door, I believe parking can be overcome at most sites within the downtown area.  If not, we're basically driving this project to a random interchange off I-95 or I-10 or......EverBank Field.

Here's a few opportunties I see in the Northbank core:

1. Snyder - There's two city owned parking garages within one block of it, on either side of Hemming (Library and Ed Ball).  We're talking about adding more parking with the potential JEA project two blocks west. 

2. JEA Administration Building - The talk of a new JEA building presents two additional opportunities, both with built-in parking.  Either the new JEA building could be designed to include a visitor's center component at the ground level that could overlook the courthouse square (which could be a great public space).  The other option would be the utilizing one of the old department store spaces in the Universal-Marion complex.  Either the first level or two of Ivey's or the Purcell's space under the garage on the south side of Church Street.

3. Jax Landing - I consider the Landing to be pretty accessible and a landmark for tourist, despite the depressed state it's in.  Parking can be accommodated in that Suntrust garage we just subsidized.  The issue with the Landing isn't space or parking.  It's political.  I believe politics continue to hold downtown Jax back more than anything else and the Landing situation is a great example of it.

If it were anyone but Sleiman owning the buildings, we'd have worked out a deal to clean the place up years ago.  Instead of full redevelopment (which I believe isn't needed), changing the tenant mix (Sleiman), pressure washing/renovating (Sleiman) and revamping the public courtyard and surrounding outdoor spaces (a city responsibility), would do wonders for the place (aka. Norfolk's Waterside District).  I think we all can agree that it doesn't need as much retail space that it has now.  So some type of cultural use that could also serve as an anchor, would be a great tenant for a revitalized center.  Out of all the possible locations for a visitors center, its the best logistically speaking (right on the river and in the heart of DT) from an image perspective.

4. Other than that, both Savannah and Charleston's are located in old rail depots on the edge of their CBDs. We have a pretty big and underutilized one in the Prime Osborn.  Perhaps some space could be carved out of it?  It's right off I-95, multimodal friedly, there's plenty of parking and the new development going up around it that will change the setting of the area within two to five years anyway.

[Tacachale]

Downtown parking is our "Boogeyman" in the sense that it's not really as much of a problem as people think it is. However, with a visitor center it absolutely would be a problem as it is in other, more walkable cities that have them. That said...

1. Snyder: Beautiful building, great central location, but parking a block away means it may not get the level of use it could.

2.JEA buildings: Solid ideas there.

3. Landing: definitely an iconic space any tourist could find. However, in its current state I would not want to dump $7 million into a visitor center there without firm guarantees from the owner and city that it will actually get cleaned up.

4. The current Laura Street Trio plans include a building on the SE corner of Laura and Forsyth, adjacent to a new parking garage. This could be a good, well located, and easily accessible spot for a purpose-made visitor center.

5. Thinking outside the box, the Library has street front space intended for retail that we've dropped the ball on. It could be used for a smallish visitor center. Additionally, reconfiguring some space in City Hall could work too.

6. Prime Osborn could work but it probably wouldn't have as much impact as it could way out there.

[spuwho]

I thought about parking briefly, but is readily available by the library across the street.

[thelakelander]

Speaking of the library, I still don't understand why the two street retail spaces can't have their own entrances from the street. Outside of how a potential RFP is written, they seem ready made for additional retail/dining opportunities facing Hemming.  Also, while not as sexy, there's still retail space available in the library garage on Duval Street.

[BenderRodriguez]

2. JEA Administration Building - The talk of a new JEA building presents two additional opportunities, both with built-in parking.  Either the new JEA building could be designed to include a visitor's center component at the ground level that could overlook the courthouse square (which could be a great public space).  The other option would be the utilizing one of the old department store spaces in the Universal-Marion complex.  Either the first level or two of Ivey's or the Purcell's space under the garage on the south side of Church Street.

2.JEA buildings: Solid ideas there.

The JEA land swap timing almost seems too good. Visit Jax could get office footprint and a massive complex to basically do whatever they want.

[FlaBoy]

Speaking of the library, I still don't understand why the two street retail spaces can't have their own entrances from the street. Outside of how a potential RFP is written, they seem ready made for additional retail/dining opportunities facing Hemming.  Also, while not as sexy, there's still retail space available in the library garage on Duval Street.

LOL. I don't even know where the retail spaces are....where are they?

The rooftop of the JEA Building would be a great place for something in the old revolving restaurant up there. The view could make it a destination.