Mayport Cruise Ship Terminal Proposal

[Metro Jacksonville]

Mayport Cruise Ship Terminal Proposal



Currently, cruise ships sailing from Jacksonville operate from a temporary cruise terminal provided by the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT). To get to this terminal, all ships must sail beneath electric power lines and the Dames Point Bridge, both which cross the St. Johns River.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/998

[downtownparks]

Seems very reasonable to me. My only reservation would be the fishing industry. Will there still be room for it in Mayport?

[BridgeTroll]

What a huge improvement to what is now called "historic".

[mrmakersmark]

Read all of the concessions that JaxPort put in the presentation and you will see that the fishing industry is WELL taken care of.  The 'Village' is also well taken care of for a museum, public space, and continued operations of the ferry for the next 10 years.  With the way that Orsini spoke with his negative attitude, I thought that the ferry was going away in 2010.

[alta]

From everything I have read the JaxPort cruise terminal is well designed and has incorporated the concerns of Mayport.  This would be a great asset for Jacksonville and draw a lot of people to Mayport.  I guess the alternative is to let Mayport die a slow death.     

[Dapperdan]

Wake up May Port. This will be great for your area. Last time I was there, the roads and everything looked decrepit. Sounds like a few people are trying to block something that will benefit a great many more.

[Joe]

Looks like a great plan overall, and the concessions are amazing considering the city probaby doesn't even need the neighborhood's approval for this rezoning to be legal.

The only thing that raised my eyebrow was the tiny surface parking lot across the street for no particular reason. I hardly think 20 parking spots are crucial for the project, compared to a commercial use that could actually recreate this "historic" character that everyone keeps claiming they want to respect.

[thelakelander]

That tiny lot also caught my attention.  Everything directly across the street should be envisioned to become complementing commercial/mixed-use development.

I also wonder what the plan is to accommodate the existing shrimp boat docks.  Other than that, the plan isn't a bad one.  From a site layout standpoint, this thing could have been much worse.  It does appear that the port authority has really tried to work with the Mayport community.

[Ocklawaha]

Putting the terminal in Mayport bodes well for promotion of "The Buccaneer Trail", our historic pirate coast highway A-1-A.

Thalassoharpaxomania = robber, sea, obsession, ("Pirate Mania.") Just one more thing the city failed to jump on in the midst of all of the recent movies. Shouldn't we have hosted the openings? Shouldn't we have staged the invasion? Shouldn't we take this for our own?

The pirates are still around. Don't believe it? Try parking your car on Mayport Road overnight, hee hee. But hey, the village wants to keep it's historic "charm". My concern is cynical because if they really cared about Mayport, someone would have got out a paint brush, trash can, bucket, and a mop, a long, long time ago.

The new terminal opens up a splended opportunity for BEACH-RAIL, streetcar. With venues on the South at Ponte Vedra-Sawgrass, attractions all along the Coast, Jax Beach-Atlantic Beach, and a cruise port on the north, this might be the most viable route in the county. Thought should be given by our port authority on future private right-of-way over the marsh, along the road to string the beach pearls together.

OCKLAWAHA

[downtownjag]

Mayport is full of a bunch of people who had been begging for someone to come in and redevelop the village.  They thought they were going to get condo's and restaurants which would raise their property values so they could cash in.  Be careful what you wish for!

[DevilsAdvocate]

Better idea: Close Mayport NS, put the cruise terminal there, reconnect Mayport Village with the rest of the beaches and watch some great developments pop up in a huge piece of river/beachfront property that's currently not on the tax rolls.

[BridgeTroll]

Why would you close a perfectly good Naval Station?  For taxes?  Nonsense... they cannot sell the condos overlooking the river downtown.

[Ocklawaha]

Why would you close a perfectly good Naval Station?

OCKLAWAHA

[tufsu1]

The new terminal opens up a splended opportunity for BEACH-RAIL, streetcar. With venues on the South at Ponte Vedra-Sawgrass, attractions all along the Coast, Jax Beach-Atlantic Beach, and a cruise port on the north, this might be the most viable route in the county. Thought should be given by our port authority on future private right-of-way over the marsh, along the road to string the beach pearls together.

I can see it now....thousands of cruise passengers getting on transit with all their luggage...please, they barely use the streetcar in Tampa that stops right in front of the terminal!

[Joe]

Better idea: Close Mayport NS, put the cruise terminal there, reconnect Mayport Village with the rest of the beaches and watch some great developments pop up in a huge piece of river/beachfront property that's currently not on the tax rolls.

No way.

You can't replicate the economic impact of the navy base, period. The extra taxes on private property (which would take 20 years to build out) simply cannot compare to the money that the navy injects into our economy. Especially with a new nuclear carrier supposedly due.

Even if Jax wanted to close a base, NAS would be a better choice than Mayport at this point (not that I'd want either to go).