Littlepage: Prime Osborn makes economical courthouse

[thelakelander]

By RON LITTLEPAGE, The Times-Union

The courthouse proposal that Mayor John Peyton plopped on the desk of the City Council has all of the appeal of a cow patty.

To build the courthouse Peyton envisions (at least what he envisions today) would cost taxpayers at least $400 million, more than double the $190 million voters approved for the project in the Better Jacksonville Plan.

Spending that much money on a courthouse borders on being immoral, considering the other pressing needs the city has. Crime prevention comes to mind.

Peyton offered the council his preferred plan and other options to consider, all equally bad.

It's time to give serious consideration to an old idea that could save taxpayers a bundle of money.

I first wrote about converting the Prime Osborn into a courthouse in April 2005.

The Prime Osborn has proved to be a dud as a convention center, and local architect Jack Diamond insisted then that it could be turned into a courthouse that would meet the city's needs for $200 million.

When I asked Diamond about it last week, he stuck to that $200 million price tag.

Now that the courthouse is in the council's court, council members should put this idea front and center and get hard numbers on what such a conversion would cost.

The Prime Osborn has the advantage of plenty of parking and room for future expansion.

Locating the courthouse there would put other things in motion.

The city could sell the six downtown blocks that were purchased for the courthouse site, recouping some of the money that has been wasted and putting the property back on the tax rolls.

But what about the old federal courthouse that is incorporated into Peyton's courthouse plans?

That building could be sold as well, or here's another possibility: The School Board wants to move its administrative offices off the Southbank riverfront.

The old federal courthouse would be a fit and there's more than adequate parking nearby, a School Board concern.

Getting the School Board off the river would make it easier to develop the adjacent JEA property that used to house the Southside Generating Station.

As for a convention center, that's an issue for another day. But a new courthouse would free up the old City Hall and current courthouse sites.

More conference space could be built next to the Hyatt. The debate over where to build a full-fledged convention center, or whether to build one at all, could come later.

The immediate problem is building a courthouse that the city can afford without depleting the general fund for the next 30 years.

The Prime Osborn deserves a serious look.

Peyton has muffed the courthouse all along. The City Council needs to get it right.

ron.littlepage@jacksonville.com,

(904) 359-4284

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120207/opl_221817111.shtml

[thelakelander]

Let voters decide on cost

I agree with columnist Ronald Littlepage that voters should decide on the new courthouse construction costs.

They should also have a voice in choosing its design. The view of the model of the proposed building exterior that was shown recently on the TV news displayed a pseudo-classic, eclectic conglomeration of Greek and Roman details. What an expensive waste!

The vision of our courthouse should be one of friendliness and justice for the injured, not one of intimidation by archaic symbols of the past. The ordinary man should feel that the courthouse is his sanctuary where he is welcomed.

Like all buildings, the courthouse is a container for a specific human activity: the administration of justice and truth.

After its interior functions have been properly planned, the exterior should reflect this truth by employing the latest technology in materials and methods through which the public will get the most "bang for the buck."

Enough money has been wasted on this project already. Let's not waste more money on a fake Hollywood stage set.

TAYLOR HARDWICK,

architect,

Ponte Vedra Beach

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120207/opl_221785724.shtml

[Lunican]

I don't necessarily agree that the Prime Osborne should be used as a courthouse... but I do agree that the courthouse/convention center/transportation center/school board issues are not independent problems and should be solved together.

[Ocklawaha]

Ron Littlepage's piece on making a Courthouse out of the Prime Osbourne is sweet. It is a great idea IF Jacksonville was located nears Keyes, Oklahoma, and a cool 100 miles from the nearest railroad. It's also a good idea if Jacksonville, changed places with Wilmarth, Florida, and hadn't discovered paved highways or Interstates. In fact the whole concept is grand were it near my humble cabin in the California Mojave. But this isn't the case. Again, we see people that can influence the opinion of the City, going off like they just walked out of a tobbacco barn in South Carolina, for the first time. This isn't California's Mojave, Oklahoma, South Carolina or Wilmarth. Ron, I agree, the Courthouse is a disaster as is, the plan is probably worse, still to further wreck our chance at becoming first in RAIL transportation, is unthinkable. Rail is a given, it is going to happen, be it Amtrak, FDOT, JTA or God knows what or who else. We can't keep the fuel flowing and it's only a matter of time until we rediscover that this is the Worlds best way to ship and travel. Then to take a "temple" of railroad commerce, purpose built for the flow of passengers, and butcher it for a Courthouse because we are in a State-caused budget crunch is irresponsible in the extreme.

I don't agree with JTA's plan to butcher Prime Osbourne into a 7 or 8 block, decentralized mess, under the banner of "Center". I don't agree with Ron's idea to butcher the Prime Osbourne for Court proceedings either. Forget Transportation Center as planned and look back to 1919. There are prints. Jacksonville Terminal was designed to handle a constant increase of traffic from 1919 through the 1950's. As it happened, railroads lost their superiority to Airlines in 59, and the Interstate highway system finished off anything that was left over. But today Cities all over the globe are returning to the rails with Light Rail, Commuter Rail and new hybrid combinations. My God people! We have the terminal, we have the yards, we have the routes, we have car builders, car rebuilders, locomotive shops and rebuilders, track contractors and any service a passenger train might ever need. We are FINALLY in the drivers seat if we would just "assume the position"... Damn! And Ron wants a Courthouse there? WRONG!

Ocklawaha

[Lunican]

How much would an exact duplicate of the federal courthouse on Hemming Plaza cost? Are the functions of a federal courthouse and a county courthouse so dramatically different that the design would not be suitable?

[RiversideGator]

It is a dumb idea to turn the Prime Osborne into a courthouse.  What it should be used for is what it was designed as:  a transit center.  Bring back Amtrak, tie in commuter rail, streetcars and buses and you would have a heck of a transit center there.

As for the rest of it, we have discussed it many times:  build the courthouse at the Lavilla site and use the current courthouse site for a new convention center.  This is by far the best alternative.

BTW, Littlepage is apparently not considering the fact that the savings in converting the convention center into a courthouse would be lost by having to then build a new convention center.

[thelakelander]

If they really want to save money they need to put the throw back designs aside and go vertical.  If they can't figure out how to transport prisoners in a vertical building, they should pick up the phone and ask Miami, Orlando, Calgary, Houston, Vegas and a host of other municipalities solved that isssue.  Then sell the remaining blocks to get them back on the tax rolls.  That land is bound to be attractive with a new courthouse located adjacent to it.

[Ocklawaha]

Why does my head do things like this... Lake, you said those other blocks would be attractive and I pictured a huge new glass "JACKSONVILLE BAIL BONDS" tower! OMG.

Ocklawaha

[Matt]

it'd be cool if they stuck a highrise on top of the Prime Osborne but still used the normal facade.

still kinda far from the core tho

[Ocklawaha]

A hi-rise over the old 1919 Headhouse of the Station? Ohhh My, I'm going to be ill!

Ocklawaha