^Ouch!
Another thing that is ABSOLUTELY insane is that the stretch of the Riverwalk between the Fuller Warren and Acosta is poorly maintained and has nothing interesting going on. I was in town in late January for a soccer tournament for my daughter. We had a break one day and scooped up Bearded Pig with a few teammates/parents and ate on the Riverwalk by the Y.
It was a beautiful sunny winter day and there were a decent amount of walkers/bikers on the Riverwalk. The setting is great there, but the Riverwalk itself was meh at best. The area between the Riverwalk and the rip rap (rocks) was mostly dirt with sporadic grass. Even the portion adjacent to Haskell was in pretty bad shape. It's kind of ridiculous that a design build company with over a billion dollars in annual revenue has such a mediocre frontage along the Riverwalk. The only portion that was decent was the stretch by the new Fidelity building, where you had some nice grasses between the Riverwalk and rip rap, but I'm sure the City will allow that to fade over time.
In general the people we were with all thought the view was nice, but couldn't understand why there was nothing to do and nothing going on. I asked the girls what was needed and they said an ice cream/dessert or drink stand. The parents couldn't understand why there wasn't a place to get a drink on the water. Having been away from Jax for a few years, I was shocked to see how run down the Riverwalk looked.
IT.IS.INSANE to try and build a "world class" waterfront parks system throughout downtown, while allowing the portion that should be the most heavily used to be completely average. It's really low hanging fruit too. The Riverwalk just needs some ornamental grasses by the rip rap, refreshed landscaping, and better street furniture. Since there is a total lack of waterfront dining downtown, why not at least throw something like this up at Gefen Park and next to Friendship Fountain immediately?
Even better, throw some outdoor seating waterward of the Riverwalk (Riverwalk can be shifted west if needed) and create an amazing place for people to grab a drink or a quick bite. If Smith and Wollensky can do it while having a popular waterfront path going through it in Miami Beach, I'm sure it can be done in Jax.
But no, let's try and create a food hall that is miles away from the core of downtown and residents.....