Duval County Courthouse: Still stumbling in the Dark

[tufsu1]

tufsu 1, I think you are the only member on here who consistently defends Peyton on everything.  Are you really Peyton in disguise, just defending yourself? 

yes, I am Mayor Peyton...and contrary to popular belief, I know quite a lot about urban issues...in fact, I even have a Masters degree in Urban Planning...and better yet, a specialization in transportation planning!

Seriously, I think Peyton is responsible for almost all of the delays and cost issues related to the courthouse...just not this time...this one was requested, for good reason, by the City Council.

Of course this could backfire...by March/April some contractors might be getting work as a result of the federal stimulus package...and might not be so eager to offer a good price to the City just to get the work.

[RiversideGator]

You dont think it will take longer than March/April for the federal spending to begin to turn into actual construction projects?

[alta]

Incompetence at all levels is to blame for the delay.  Will we have a high rise to replace the current design?  Probably not.  The proposal to spend an additional $148 million on the stadium is probably holding up things. 

[Steve]

Apparently Peyton intends to walk through this thing before he leaves office:

The other 800-pound gorilla is the new County Courthouse. Where does that project stand today?

I don’t view it as an 800-pound gorilla. It’s been planned, it will get built and I will walk through it before I leave office. There is more opportunity now than ever and the economy is such we need to take advantage of the low bids. Some are 20 percent under what they were. We need to get government off the river. It will generate thousands of jobs. The plans have been drafted and we are waiting for a guaranteed maximum price from the contractor. I think we will get that by early spring.


Once construction of the new Courthouse is well underway, will you begin to do anything about the current Courthouse?

I think the next mayor will have to wrestle with how that land is used. We will not vacate that building before it (the new one) is done. We will not be out of the Courthouse Annex or the old Courthouse before I leave office. Walking through it (the new one) before I leave is a stretch.


http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=51584


So apparently, he intends to walk down the hall of an unfinished building.

[BridgeTroll]

I like this part...

We need to get government off the river.

[Lunican]

Peyton could do a walk through today. Pretty easy without walls.



Is there a chance this will be completed by the time he leaves office? He sure is cutting it close.

[jtwestside]

I like this part...

We need to get government off the river.

Could we start with the School Board, then the Jail?

[Lucasjj]

Although the court house is priority, I agree that the jail has to be moved. If that side of downtown is to become an entertainment district with luxury residential then that has to be a addressed.

Just imagine now walking out on to the balcony of your condo to view the river while listening to the sounds of prisoners in their recreational/exercise area. :-( Now that is something you can only get in Jacksonville.

And we might as well start now since it would take 10 years for it to be done anyway.

[BridgeTroll]

Move the school board ASAP... and get on with the giant empty space that was the power plant.  Oh the things we could do there!!

[urbanlibertarian]

It would be good to get the School Board building property back on the tax rolls and they could probably find reasonable space to lease downtown these days.  But even though I live pretty close to the jail, moving it would have to be a financial gain or at least a wash for the city before I could support that.

[Keith-N-Jax]

I like this part...

We need to get government off the river.

Could we start with the School Board, then the Jail?

Could we please just start and stop talking while doing nothing.