Two great companies, One awesome opportunity for Jax!

[zoo]

HDR and Project for Public Spaces team up on part of Jacksonville's "Emerald Necklace"

This is exciting news to have an international engineering company and a world-class public space design company working together to master plan Springfield's park system from Market St up to 8th. This is the Project for Public Spaces' (New York, New York) first involvement anywhere in NEFL, and Springfield has been deserving of this kind of talent investment for some time.

(See if you think Project for Public Spaces is good enough for Springfield at www.pps.org)

Kick off meetings will begin in July, and the outcome will be a plan that addresses water/ground contamination, stormwater management, historical features, integration with Springfield and Downtown sides, integration with commercial and transit, maximization of existing assets, beautification and amenities/usage.

The plan will take into consideration prior visioning exercises that have occurred in both Springfield and Downtown, incuding the 2000 Downtown Master Plan, the 2003 Army Corps of Engineers visioning, and the just completed Zyscovich Urban Core - Planning District 1 visioning.

Here is where PPS has it listed on their site:

http://www.pps.org/info/services/current_projects/where_pps_working_today_all

Hoping with HDR's input, the planning takes into consideration connectivity with Metro Park and the River (bring back those pump houses?)

[zoo]

Also interesting to note that PPS is working worldwide on projects in the following placemaking/planning practice areas:

Parks (yea, Emerald Necklace!)
Transportation
Mixed-Use Development
Public Markets
Placemaking Initiatives
Waterfronts
Squares and Civic Centers
Campuses
Training

At the very least, all those in red, are issues Jacksonville is trying to face/meld in its Downtown and surrounding communities.

Parks - Emerald Necklace (signed up), MetroPark, Friendship Fountain (assigned to Urban A&O?), Main Pocket Park (ugh), etc...
Transportation - too many issue to list!
Public Markets - RAM, Hemming Plaza, Art Walk (all are coming on, but view in context with the rest)
Waterfronts - Riverwalks, bridges, etc...

I might even add Squares and Civic Centers re: Stadium District, Courthouse and the potential for a Convention Center.

Maybe it's time these things are looked at as a whole with a non-political eye? I know this is what the 2000 Downtown Master Plan was supposed to do, but where is the delivery on it? Gone with the administration of the time?

I have sat in so many conferences, meetings, press conferences here where forward-thinking planners from elsewhere open eyes -- Ed McMahon, from ULI HQ in Wash D.C. at of Reality Check was a great example. But then none of the great thinking ever makes it to local plans and implementation. Council or Mayor's office gets in the way of the other, and Jacksonville stagnates.

As a citizen that hopes Jacksonville can realize its promise, I hope the outsiders, like PPS, keep bringing the wisdom until local power structure (all of it) listens... and sooner rather than later.

[stjr]

Zoo, sounds good.  Hope they also factor in Shipyards and JEA properties.

[fsu813]

i wonder how long this will take (i don't want to think about it)

[zoo]

the outcome will be a plan that addresses water/ground contamination, stormwater management, historical features, integration with Springfield and Downtown sides, integration with commercial and transit, maximization of existing assets, beautification and amenities/usage

6 months to plan. Just curious, fsu813, how long do you think implementation, dealing with all of these issues, and of course finding funding, should take?

[billy]

Do you have contact infornation on this as far as the team members?
Who is funding this?