Help plan the Duval County Courthouse Plaza

[Tacachale]

Over a decade has passed since downtown advocates promoted the development of a courthouse square by successfully rallying to keep Monroe Street from being built in front of the Duval County Courthouse. Now the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville plans to activate this space and would like your input.

Read more: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/help-plan-the-duval-county-courthouse-plaza/

[Kerry]

Move the Vietnam Memorial from the stadium parking lot and add memorials for all the other wars.  The war memorials in Paris, TX and Wichita, KS are pretty nice.

[Charles Hunter]

Move the Vietnam Memorial from the stadium parking lot and add memorials for all the other wars.  The war memorials in Paris, TX and Wichita, KS are pretty nice.

I like this.  Might provide an opportunity to go back to the original concept of grouping the names by high school attended. As I understand it, after the original names (and maybe a few more), they have just been added at the ends of the memorial.

[FlaBoy]

Maybe a little plaza on the corner of Adams and Pearl with a little coffee shop or something simple with some seating. A little amphitheater would be nice in sort of a "free speech" area.

I know they have a James Weldon Johnson park over near the new JTA Center but, as an attorney, James Weldon Johnson could be honored with a statute in one section of the green with some seating around it.

I do think this area needs to compliment, in whatever ways, things going on at Hemming and then whatever the park is supposed to look like/amenities at the Landing site.

[vicupstate]

Move the Vietnam Memorial from the stadium parking lot and add memorials for all the other wars.  The war memorials in Paris, TX and Wichita, KS are pretty nice.

I like the idea but I think a Riverwalk location would be much better for something like this. Given JAX is a Navy town, we should emphasize this kind of thing.   

[Kerry]

Move the Vietnam Memorial from the stadium parking lot and add memorials for all the other wars.  The war memorials in Paris, TX and Wichita, KS are pretty nice.

I like the idea but I think a Riverwalk location would be much better for something like this. Given JAX is a Navy town, we should emphasize this kind of thing.

Where could it go along the river?  There isn't a lot of public space, at least on the Northbank.  Wichita, KS has an awesome riverfront where their veterans memorials are located.  One of the challenges for Jax is that the St Johns is simply to wide for human scale.

http://wichitaveteransmemorialpark.com/

[thelakelander]

I don't think it has to be a challenge. Norfolk has fared well with the Elizabeth River.

[Kerry]

I don't think it has to be a challenge. Norfolk has fared well with the Elizabeth River.

Norfolk pretty much still has a working waterfront.  They better pray those shipyards don't move.

[thelakelander]

Yes, it's a great asset and interesting scene to see. As long as the Navy is there, they'll have shipyards. However, the river is pretty wide through downtown Norfolk and the downtown waterfront is still lined with maintained parks, museums, restaurants, retails and multifamily housing.

[sandyshoes]

I'm thinking jurors might appreciate a food truck or two, with some tables, chairs, benches and shading (think something arty, like those crazy big sails that graced the balcony of the old HRS building downtown) of some sort built on part of the space.  As for any type of gatherings, is that space really large enough to accommodate sizeable crowds? 

[Steve]

I'm thinking jurors might appreciate a food truck or two, with some tables, chairs, benches and shading (think something arty, like those crazy big sails that graced the balcony of the old HRS building downtown) of some sort built on part of the space.  As for any type of gatherings, is that space really large enough to accommodate sizeable crowds? 

After doing Jury duty last week and seeing it up close, it's bigger than you think. Done right it could definitely accommodate over a thousand people using both sides.

[Steve]

Well, this project just took a fantastically ridiculous turn:

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/courthouse-public-art-project-takes-step-forward

• No trees may be planted.

• No water features.

• No long-term seating.

• The landscape must be easily maintained using only lawnmowers, leaf blowers and pressure washing.

• The site plan must allow for possible future restoration of Monroe Street between Pearl and Julia streets, along Adams Street and the south side of the courthouse.

[Steve]

Trees could block the view for surveillance cameras and long-term seating could make it possible for someone to wait to confront someone else entering or leaving the courthouse, a victim of domestic violence, for example, he said.

Permanent seating makes it easier to wait to confront someone!? So if I was hellbent on confronting someone I'd come there, realize there's no seating, then because of that make a better choice!?

[Peter Griffin]

Meh, seems reasonable. Chilling in front of a coffee shop or event venue? These restrictions would suck. The front of the courthouse isn't meant to be a hangout spot, though, and the security concerns seem valid. Plus, with our history of maintaining public spaces, being painfully realistic about leafblowers, pressure washers, and lawnmowers seems like a step in the right direction for keeping the space in good shape.

Personally, once I'm done paying my traffic tickets at the courthouse, I wanna get the heck outta there

[marcuscnelson]

Trees could block the view for surveillance cameras and long-term seating could make it possible for someone to wait to confront someone else entering or leaving the courthouse, a victim of domestic violence, for example, he said.

Permanent seating makes it easier to wait to confront someone!? So if I was hellbent on confronting someone I'd come there, realize there's no seating, then because of that make a better choice!?

Actually, I get it. Standing around can be tiring, and it might give a chance for someone to change their mind. And, if someone is standing around outside stewing to themselves it might give security time to come out and ask what's going on.

Obviously, if someone is genuinely hellbent on doing that, then nothing will stop them, but there's a lot of space before that point where intervention might be possible.