Duval County Courthouse Renderings

[Metro Jacksonville]

Duval County Courthouse Renderings



A sneak peek at the latest renderings of the controversial and long delayed Duval County Courthouse.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/962

[jeh1980]

Great renderings! I like them. But before I would start wasting my energy murmuring and complaining about it's surroundings and what the city is doing about them, I think that those plans will come in time. Let's all bank on it. In the meantime, let's start on this thing right away!!!

[BridgeTroll]

Seems out of place... such a huge building amongst the empty lots and smallish surroundings.  The view of the parking garage from the front steps should be magnificent...

What will be done with the "historic courthouse" between the new and the federal courthouse?

[Lucasjj]

Lets say they started this thing tomorrow...How long would it be until this thing was up and functioning?

[thelakelander]

The old federal courthouse will become a part of new courthouse complex.  If construction isn't delayed again, this thing should be up by 2011 or 2012.

But before I would start wasting my energy murmuring and complaining about it's surroundings and what the city is doing about them, I think that those plans will come in time.

jeh1980, this one is just for you. 

The plans suggest that the two carved up blocks along Adams will become permanent green space.  Hopefully, a successful effort can be made to make this public space a little more active as opposed to passive.  It also appears the small section of Clay, between Adams and Monroe will be closed, while Pearl will be reopened.  Also, I wonder what will happen to the last block bounded by Adams, Pearl, Monroe and Julia Streets?  Is the plan to sell it back to the private sector, park on it or fill it with sod for future expansion?  Looking back at the process, it now appears that the historic Southern Bell building was torn down for nothing.


The old Southern Bell Building on the block of Adams between Pearl & Julia.

[copperfiend]

sigh

[Joe]

The whole courthouse project is such a joke at this point. Part of me wants to complain about the obvious flaws still present in the new plan:
- Needlessly takes up two exta blocks
- Could have gone vertical
- Doesn't connect Clay Street.
- Rotates the building, thus destroying the original "terminal vista" which was the entire point of sprawling across 4 blocks in the first place. Therefore, there's no actual reason for the superblock, making the other problems even more frustrating, because they didn't need to happen.

The other part of me just doesn't care. Get the piece of sh*t built. To a great extent, the damage has been done. Let's just get the garbage built so the private sector will have time to develop the old courthouse site before the NEXT real estate crash.

Looking back at the process, it now appears that the historic Southern Bell building was torn down for nothing.

Yup. And don't forget Judge Moran's slip where he basically admitted that he wanted it torn down so he "wouldn't have to look at it." It was such a crass abuse of power it's still sickening.

[Jason]

I want to know who rendered downtown?  Looks like an in house KBJ project.  If so, they should send the stuff to Google to add to Google Earth.

[Jason]

Was my original rendering close?   

My building looks a lot shorter.  At least the building is stretching quite a bit of height out of 7 floors.

[Jason]

What's with the proposed BRT bus stop at Broad and Duval?

[thelakelander]

The whole courthouse project is such a joke at this point. Part of me wants to complain about the obvious flaws still present in the new plan:
- Needlessly takes up two exta blocks
- Could have gone vertical

Now that you mention it, even a slight modification of this plan could have saved the two blocks to the south.



The front of the building looks like a one to two story component.  Whack that section off, replace the square footage by going up one more floor and then there would be no need for a massive rerouting of Monroe.

[thelakelander]

Considering the plan and area, the proposed BRT stop would be better off being shifted a block to the south (Broad & Monroe).  This way, more pedestrian traffic will be driven past the courthouse front door, the green space, the empty retail spaces on Adams and Worman's Bakery.

[JaxByDefault]

I kid you not, according to one courthouse supporter with the city, the one to two story component at the front of the courthouse--the one that requires the rerouting of Monroe--is an "architectural feature" that "adds heft to the design" and makes the courthouse look "old and added on to," as if it were a historic structure that been expanded. If that, coupled with marble grandeur, was the city's style objective, they should have gone vertical on the nearby old federal courthouse.

This plan is -- and will remain-- terrible for downtown connectivity.

It also runs a substantial risk of not being the grand architectural landmark desired. Faux historic buildings that try to capture grandeur, but pay sparse attention to historic scale, materials, details, and surroundings (or do not take enough risk to evidence real architectural design innovation) typically end up looking cheap and dated within a few decades. Worse, since this suburban style of architecture belongs to no discernable school, it won't be a target for preservationists during its "dated eyesore" phase. (In contrast to the mid-century library that--love it or hate it--is clearly part of a design trend, as was the Klutho building that was destroyed for its construction.)

[KenFSU]

The design isn't appalling, but it certainly could have been a lot better.

A dome or a clock tower would have been awesome.

[RiversideGator]

A mediocrity produced by mediocrities.  What a terrible structure, what a ridiculous misuse of downtown space and streets, what vandalism of historic structures for nothing.