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archiphreak
February 11, 2010, 08:11:21 AMI drive by the courthouse every day on my way into work from Riverside. It's coming along nicely. Hopefully it will spur on private projects in that area and get the downtown moving in the right direction. It's nice to see a couple of new businesses already springing up.
San Marco is in need of some help, so I'm happy to see some new blood being pumped into that area.
Being a 5 Points resident, I'm tickled friggin PINK about Lomax Lounge opening soon. 5 Points to me is the ultimate urban pedestrian center and a new watering hole is always welcome. Now if we just had more places to eat like O'Brothers and Mossfire.
Great job. Awesome update. Seems Jax is chugging along ok even these days. Though, with all these smaller projects, I wonder, who's doing the bulk of the design work these days?
tufsu1
February 11, 2010, 09:04:46 AMlooks like there might be a the tree on the roof of the new courthouse in one of the bridge renderings....maybe they are planning a rooftop garden (or smoker's porch) on top of the 2-story bump out area.
fieldafm
February 11, 2010, 09:09:11 AMDoes anyone know what restaurant is going in at Julia and Forsyth?
I peaked in the window at the new Lomax Lodge last night(they had curtains up over the windows), looks like it will be pretty cool inside.
Lucasjj
February 11, 2010, 09:44:48 AMI was walking by 925 King St (The Loft?) and the bar they are building in there is huge. It is oval shape and cetered in the area. I talked to one of the workers, but he said they didn't really have the time frame for opening yet. I was told that the same person as who owns Walkers was opening it, but I am not sure on that.
JoeMerchant
February 11, 2010, 09:51:14 AM^ pretty sure that is the case....he's quite the developer it seems.
stjr
February 11, 2010, 09:55:37 AMThat wall down the side of the courthouse, which we will get to stare at for the next 50+ years, on Pearl Street should do wonders for making Pearl Street pedestrian friendly.
Glad to see a restaurant at the Farmers Market. Since moving into its new digs a few years ago, it has been continuously upgraded. Good for Jax and good for the area.
JoeMerchant
February 11, 2010, 10:00:55 AM^Ah, c'mon that's going to be a nice wall with a few wheatpasted art pieces and some graffiti.
fsujax
February 11, 2010, 10:06:17 AMI noticed that wall too. It can't be for real!
tufsu1
February 11, 2010, 10:07:22 AMplease explain...how could it be worse than that area is now?
stephendare
February 11, 2010, 10:12:32 AMbecause as it is now, it has potential to be a part of the downtown. With a wall constructed, it no longer has that, and is guaranteed to do exactly what stjr says.
It would seem a planner would understand the difference.
stjr
February 11, 2010, 10:12:49 AMThis is not the issue, Tufsu. The area as it is now was also created by misguided policies. The issue is what it COULD BE. With your approach, we are setting our sights way too low - business as usual in Jax.
Do we want to be first class or third class? I want first class but I guess you are willing to settle for third. Don't worry, you are clearly winning out based on projects like this. And, that was my point to begin with.
Captain Zissou
February 11, 2010, 10:21:39 AMThat wall is on the Old Federal Courthouse side. Why is the wall not already there, is that building not occupied. It seems to me that if they have a raised crosswalk, they're pretty secure as is. I do like the crosswalk, it kind of unifies the complex.
Ethylene
February 11, 2010, 10:22:35 AMHow 'bout another JAGS mural, if they hurry!
JeffreyS
February 11, 2010, 10:25:43 AMLook it is a suburban campus in our urban center but it is too late to change that.
fsu813
February 11, 2010, 10:27:06 AMHope the glass windows in the Court House's predestrain bridge are bullet proof......that was the whole point of the bridge, right?
Dog Walker
February 11, 2010, 10:36:02 AMIt's obvious from the renderings that the architects made an effort to echo the spacing and texture of the old Federal Courthouse windows and siding on some of the new courthouse, which is a nice touch, but that Acropolis-stacked-on-Acropolis, forest-of-columns facade is UGLY!
kells904
February 11, 2010, 10:38:37 AMI can accept the wall, if it is incorporated with some sort of design that makes use of the length of it. Maybe some local artists can be commissioned to carve some funky-fresh relief into it. If it's just a wall for the sake of having a wall, then yes, it sucks. Who knows, maybe at some point down the road--after it's been tagged to oblivion, they can be persuaded to tear it down. Not really choosing any one position or another over this wall...but at this point, it's too early to say what its function will be. Just trying to remain open-minded.
Overstreet
February 11, 2010, 11:22:02 AMWalls, jersey barriers, concrete bollards, etc will be around court houses and other government buildings untill they forget Kansas City. It keeps the bombers from parking real close.
reednavy
February 11, 2010, 11:24:17 AMYou mean Oklahoma City?
JeffreyS
February 11, 2010, 11:34:49 AMstjr
February 11, 2010, 12:32:15 PMYep, that's our standard answer in Jax. It was noted during design in many quarters that this building was inappropriate for its Downtown setting. Did the City care to listen? No, they plowed ahead anyway with their "design by committee". There are no excuses for this issue and apologies mean nothing.
How can we expect private development to support Downtown when the City, the supposed leader of the charge, not only doesn't live by its own pronouncements, but ignores its multitude of expensive "visioning" plans and actively works against them. As I said before, it's why Downtown isn't coming back anytime soon. Current "improvements" are just more lip service, just like the mass transit talk. We, as a City, really aren't serious based on our actions to date.
tufsu1
February 11, 2010, 12:42:49 PMdon't you worry...I do.
I don't like the wall much...but thought the original comment related to the site as a whole...and while maybe not as good as we'd like, I think everyone can agree that it is a marked improvement over the area as it stands today.
And yes, I also know the area is the way it is today primarily because of ignorance and negligence by the City.
Captain Zissou
February 11, 2010, 12:57:30 PM^ We can't afford to keep gradually improving sites. We need intelligent and sustainable designs now. We can't have marginal improvements, that takes too much money.
Yes, the Transit center is an improvement, but it leaves a lot to be desired.
Yes, the courthouse is an improvement, but it leaves a lot to be desired.
Yes, Metro Park will be an improvement, but the money could have been better spent elsewhere.
JTB, Outer Beltway, Riverwalk..... etc
Even if it means the city does less, but creates smarter projects and better designs, I'm for it.
stephendare
February 11, 2010, 01:01:34 PMZissou. Can we start a third party on this idea?
stephendare
February 11, 2010, 01:09:24 PMHmm.. I thought I read the post you were responding to.
I dont see where he was talking about anything but the wall.
Ocklawaha
February 11, 2010, 01:30:53 PMWalls don't have to be substantial to do their job in the case of a bomb blast. Witness the lowly newspaper rolled up on the front lawn. Lay a stick of TNT on a tree stump and light the fuse... BANG, and you get a loud noise and a scorched tree stump. Lay a stick of TNT on the tree stump and lay that newspaper on top of it, light the fuse... BANG! And you get a yard full of sawdust, scratch one tree stump.
A simple wall WILL deflect the most deadly part of the blast straight upward, it will not deflect heavy shrapnel from plowing right through it. It's a sad choice that has to be made in this crazy world of ours, how much containment is needed at a public site. Note the Federal Courthouse has an elevated entry patio, so not only the wall effect of elevation, but the bunker effect of a few dozen tons of dirt berm to back it up.
OCKLAWAHA
hightowerlover
February 11, 2010, 01:40:21 PMi dont think i necessarily feel like barriers and walls are a bad thing when the building is full of criminals... do we really need an interaction with pedestrian traffic... this is a security matter. I don't see people at Berkman wishing the jail and their condos were less confined from one another.
braeburn
February 11, 2010, 01:40:37 PMWell at least it is a step up from concertina razor wire...
stephendare
February 11, 2010, 01:48:31 PMBut then again, what building isnt full of criminals?
The courthouse isnt a criminal justice facility only, you know. Deeds, contracts, records are kept there, civil suits, dependency, marriage and divorce, traffic infractions..
The divider is one of those things that only sounds like a good idea at the time, but in retrospect seems abominably stupid.
Dog Walker
February 11, 2010, 04:53:55 PMThat wall would make a great surface for a spectacular tile mural. Have seen this done in Mexico and Spain to take the curse off of the appearance and still keep the function. Also easy to clean graffiti off glazed tile if it becomes necessary.
Commission a mural of the St. John's River circa 1901 with ferries and sailing ships.
Captain Zissou
February 11, 2010, 04:58:26 PMOf course....?
brainstormer
February 13, 2010, 01:14:28 PM^ I will support said third party.
fieldafm
February 15, 2010, 09:29:18 AMDoes anyone know what restaurant is being built out at Julia/Forsythe?