Jacobs Jewelers clock - back in six months?

[fsquid]

This is simply unacceptable.  Going back to another discussion...the PEOPLE are really to blame!  This clock is one of the *only* landmarks of the city, and it's been YEARS.  I guess there aren't protests and parades of angry taxpayers beating down the hatches of City Hall.

I can tell you in Atlanta that clock could go maybe 30-60 days behind schedule before it would be news and people would be all over it.  Here in SF there would be a vigil and a rally of 100,000 people if it were 1 friggin day late!  Sadly, I just don't even think anyone in Jacksonville knows that it even EXISTS!

It's a people problem for sure.

sounds like people need a hobby.

[simms3]

From January 8, 2013:

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2013-01-08

Last April, the City awarded a $51,000 contract for the restoration of the clock to the I.T. Verdin Co, in Cincinnati. The work was completed and the restored clock was shipped back to Jacksonville in September. It has been stored in a City warehouse since.

 "We are anxious to get the clock back. It only took six weeks in 1973 when it was in 200 pieces after the bus ran over it," said Thomas.

 Scott Wilson, executive assistant to City Council member Don Redman, whose district includes Downtown, said the clock is ready to be re-installed as soon as the City awards a bid for a concrete base for the clock.

 Public Works Department Chief of Engineering and Construction Management Bill Joyce estimated it will be another 6-8 weeks before the final step of restoring the clock along Laura Street.

 "We have received bids and are currently reviewing. Once we determine a low responsive bidder we will be formulating a recommendation to the awards committee. We should have a recommendation within the next couple of weeks," he said.

From April 25, 2011

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2011-04-25

Thomas said he has a $4,000 estimate for the cost of replacing the movement with a new electronic version and he has requested an estimate for powder-coating the exterior, which would be more durable than paint.

 Thomas also said he doesn’t know why the City claims to not have the money to rehabilitate the clock. He said in addition to transferring ownership of the historic landmark in 1995, his store and a local law firm partnered to present to the City a $6,500 trust fund designated to be used for future maintenance and repairs.

 The principal, plus 16 years of accrued interest, should be more than enough to complete the work needed to return the clock to its place along the new and improved Laura Street in a timely fashion, he said.

 Thomas said if there’s a government procedure needed to locate and release the funds, “I’ll pay for the work if they’ll reimburse me.”

A whole other discussion on the missing clock from a while back (a quick Google search reveals a few articles from The Daily Record and discussion from MetroJacksonville, but not much else.

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=15585.0


Just trying to put into perspective the "little" issue of one of the city's main landmarks and oldest "structures" remaining in the city now missing. 

[stephendare]

This is simply unacceptable.  Going back to another discussion...the PEOPLE are really to blame!  This clock is one of the *only* landmarks of the city, and it's been YEARS.  I guess there aren't protests and parades of angry taxpayers beating down the hatches of City Hall.

I can tell you in Atlanta that clock could go maybe 30-60 days behind schedule before it would be news and people would be all over it.  Here in SF there would be a vigil and a rally of 100,000 people if it were 1 friggin day late!  Sadly, I just don't even think anyone in Jacksonville knows that it even EXISTS!

It's a people problem for sure.

sounds like people need a hobby.

Yeah, like giving a shit about the city they live in.

[stephendare]

I can tell you in Atlanta that clock could go maybe 30-60 days behind schedule before it would be news and people would be all over it.

WHATEVER

simms is quite correct

are you suggesting that Jacksonville doesn't have people that care or are passionate about issues?

Where in this sentence is the word "Jacksonville"?  Or is "Atlanta" a new codeword that no one bothered sending a memo to the rest of us??

[tufsu1]

^ really dude? I'm not going to bother egtting in a tit-for-tat with you today.  Just take a look at Post #51 from simms...and yes, I was implying that lots of folks in Atlanta also could care less about what happens in the core....their downtown was largely ignored for the last 50+ years too!

[Tacachale]

Come on guys, less talk more clock. Bativac, any word from the council members?

[Overstreet]

Let's see...............the city has budget problems. City police and fire pension funds are coming up short because of the city's lack of money to honor past agreements. The city is cutting back on personnel. The city has to figure out how to pay for the court house. Some fire houses were closed. Some libraries were closed or reduced hours. 

Then there is a clock that has been missing for a long time. An unnecessary clock since  most people use a watch or their cell phone to tell time. You know I can't see the clock from my house or office or my construction project downtown. But I drive past two  fire stations just about  every day.

Do we really need every old thing restored at the speed of heat? .............(sorry old Mechanical Engineer saying)  Do we really need every old thing restored right away?

[simms3]

^^^That's a good point, but perhaps the larger discussion should be based on priorities and revenue sources?  I think you're saying that given the revenue sources, or lack thereof, the clock should continue to be further down the list than say police and fire fighters.

To that I agree...but maybe someone can step up and save the clock privately?  Sounds like it's not a high $$ project bid.

I thought the whole point of low taxes was so that people could choose where they send their money for themselves and give to the appropriate charities/foundations/churches they deem fit rather than some bureaucracy take the money, pay some idiots to dole it out inappropriately, bla bla bla.  Sadly, I don't see that much "giving" in lieu of taxes in Jax, but this could be a cheap and very visible way for someone to give back to the community and lift community spirits/civic pride?

[simms3]

^ really dude? I'm not going to bother egtting in a tit-for-tat with you today.  Just take a look at Post #51 from simms...and yes, I was implying that lots of folks in Atlanta also could care less about what happens in the core....their downtown was largely ignored for the last 50+ years too!

You are so fascinatingly hung up on me...I barely even post any more and I tend to bring up a wide array of cities...I live in SF (which I mentioned in the same breath as my callout to Atlanta by the way...you conveniently ignore).  The thing is I could now just simply compare Jax to SF all the time!  That would be a great comparison...world-class old-world city to backwater FL sunbelt boomtown.  LoL  At least Jax and Atlanta have a lot of potential similarities and nothing I say is too off base.  Now that I'm away from Atlanta I view it as skeptically if not more than I view Jax (I'm a hometown hero guy!...as long as I'm in the hometown .  Even so, and as much as I actually have a love-HATE relationship with Atlanta, the city does very well for itself because it has quite an engaged and eager to improve population, especially in its local leadership and business community (less so in the general transient workforce).

I'm sure an iconic emblem of local history in Richmond or Charleston or Birmingham or Memphis would be just as easily forgotten as in Jax, so that obviously excuses the entire problem of people not caring.

[tufsu1]

Now that I'm away from Atlanta I view it as skeptically if not more than I view Jax (I'm a hometown hero guy!...as long as I'm in the hometown

glad to hear it...because at times, it seems from your writing that Atlanta is almost perfect

[edjax]

I sent an email this morning to Don Redman and Bill Bishop. Since then I  have not heard from Mr Redman. But I have heard back in a chain of emails from Mr Bishop, Suzanne Warren and Paul Crawford that they are requesting answers and status on the issue.

[Noone]

I have a nice list of emails to Don that literally go back years with still no answers. Scott, you know it's true. The clock is at Talleyrand. What are the bids for the slab of concrete to reinstall this. Who will be the first news crew to go to Talleyrand and report that here is "The clock in the box"

Instead of a bid. Shouldn't this simply be a Public Works project?

[Cheshire Cat]

Yes it should Noone. 

[fsquid]

This is simply unacceptable.  Going back to another discussion...the PEOPLE are really to blame!  This clock is one of the *only* landmarks of the city, and it's been YEARS.  I guess there aren't protests and parades of angry taxpayers beating down the hatches of City Hall.

I can tell you in Atlanta that clock could go maybe 30-60 days behind schedule before it would be news and people would be all over it.  Here in SF there would be a vigil and a rally of 100,000 people if it were 1 friggin day late!  Sadly, I just don't even think anyone in Jacksonville knows that it even EXISTS!

It's a people problem for sure.

sounds like people need a hobby.

Yeah, like giving a shit about the city they live in.

Good, maybe that person should pay to fix the clock in a timely manner.

[stephendare]

This is simply unacceptable.  Going back to another discussion...the PEOPLE are really to blame!  This clock is one of the *only* landmarks of the city, and it's been YEARS.  I guess there aren't protests and parades of angry taxpayers beating down the hatches of City Hall.

I can tell you in Atlanta that clock could go maybe 30-60 days behind schedule before it would be news and people would be all over it.  Here in SF there would be a vigil and a rally of 100,000 people if it were 1 friggin day late!  Sadly, I just don't even think anyone in Jacksonville knows that it even EXISTS!

It's a people problem for sure.

sounds like people need a hobby.

Yeah, like giving a shit about the city they live in.

Good, maybe that person should pay to fix the clock in a timely manner.

We did.  And we do.

As it happens I heard from a fellow yesterday on this subject.  He has invited us out to photograph the clock which is being held in storage until the bidding process is closed.