Deliberate Hemming Park Neglect and DeAmenitization

[simms3]

Great job highlighting the neglect, but I fail to see the big difference between how the city treats Hemming Plaza and the rest of the city maintained parks.  The only attractive, well-maintained, tastefully landscaped, and generally well used parks in the city are those that have benefited from private $$.  And overall, that makes sense as all great parks in all big cities are mostly run off of private $$.

But from a municipal level, Boone Park is shit, Riverside Park is eh at best, Memorial Park always feels like it's lacking and needs work as well, the parks in Ortega that aren't Stockton or Baker Point are jokes at best, even the Riverwalk is laughable when compared to other riverfront/riverwalk parks elsewhere.

The most obvious neglect to me is the string of parks separating Springfield and Downtown.  In my opinion, the city should have NO say at all on what goes on in Springfield until it makes some sort of concerted legitimate effort to integrate the area as a neighborhood that's actually tied in with the city.  By starting with those parks.

I don't understand how a city given so many natural resources can waste and squander all of them.

[CG7]

How is Boone Park shit. The tennis courts are well maintained, the 2 playgrounds are well maintained, there are no broken benches or picnic tables. Plus the grass gets cut on a regular basis. So please explain exactly how Boone Park is shit.

[peestandingup]

It's disgusting that this is the FRONT YARD to CITY HALL where our CITY LEADERS work every day. They do nothing about it. Absolutely disgusting that they let this crumble right in front of their own eyes - under their watch. They should all be ashamed.

+1000
If our front lawns looked like that...

My thought exactly. If this park or the Southbank Riverwalk were operated or owned by a private entity it would be shutdown in a heartbeat and/or fined out the yingyang until it is brought up to code.

I move we dock the pay of who ever is in charge of maintaining the park system until they are up to par.

Would that be Ms Boree?

The city at this point should have zero say so in the going ons in many of these public spaces & parks, seeing that they can't even maintain them. They do what they want & get away with stuff like this because no one holds them accountable. Not only should those in charge have their pay docked (or be outright terminated), but the city should relinquish their control of these spaces, which are deemed hazardous or neglected, directly to the people of the neighborhoods that surround them. Special committees & funding could be setup internally within said neighborhoods to make sure the parks are maintained, keeping inadequate government entities out of the process entirely.

If they don't want to do that (which they won't), then I could see a day where some might move on to more drastic measures involving protests & disruptions. I'd personally hate if mounds of garbage suddenly showed up on the lawn of that shiny new courthouse. Also, do not even think about staging some kind of "trash in" in large numbers on your own properties to point out the double standard of what happens when you do it VS the city.

Yep, seriously, don't do it. Nope nope nope.

[Cheshire Cat]

Just FYI, as I passed through it on the way to the Consolidation Meeting, the park was filled with an unusual number of city workers, cleaning the fountains and poking around in the bushes.  We shall presently see what this means.

Thank you for sharing Stephen.  I have not had a call yet from Kelly Boree which is probably a good thing because I have a lost my voice due to a severe sore throat.  I am hoping that the fact she has yet to call may be because she would like to update the situation after what is being done today.  If I don't hear by tomorrow afternoon.  I will see what the status is next Monday.  I will also pursue answers to the questions that I posed earlier about maintenance of the park and removal of the furniture. 

[tom joseph]

I find this very revealing of the current changes in Jacksonville. I always used the park from back in thee1950s as a kid and on. There were bus stops back then and people in the park even at night. It was safe and interesting. My parents would let me go from the table at Morrison's Restaurant on the park and go play.

Jump forward in time and I recently remember the Occupy Jacksonville activities there. It was OK friendly and trouble free, if annoying to some.

If the City decides to lease the park to a private company, then the Council members who vote for that should be removed. Why? Because the park is public property that belongs to all of us. It is exactly why Jacksonville cannot have nice things. If the general public cannot keep access to a nice park in front of City Hall then why not close City Hall and lease it to some private company also?

The total mismanagement of the city for years has been led from City Hall not from Hemming Park. The embarrassing characters that give the city a bad image are inside City Hall not in the park.

[Cheshire Cat]

Friends, I was unable to catch up on the status of this as promised this past Monday.  Ended up in the hospital with not one but two bacterial infections and a temp over 105.  Was released but still pretty weak and really unable to talk on the phone.  I promise to catch up on this when I am a bit stronger.   

[BridgeTroll]

Friends, I was unable to catch up on the status of this as promised this past Monday.  Ended up in the hospital with not one but two bacterial infections and a temp over 105.  Was released but still pretty weak and really unable to talk on the phone.  I promise to catch up on this when I am a bit stronger.   

CC... it is more important to get well.  Take your meds and get some rest...

[bigpainmike]

It is appalling to see how the city has dealt with the homeless as well as city amenities. We can thank President Reagan for creating the army of mentally ill homeless people when he defunded the safety net back in the 80s that helped families pay for needed treatment and housing. Since then, we've all been told to do more with less. You can see this type of neglect all over the country. It's difficult to make the case for bringing suburbanites downtown, when public amenities are allowed to deteriorate. I am in Mr Redman's district and will do my best to see that he is not my council representative in the next election. The problems with Hemming Park are there for all to see. The Hogans Creek area could be a tourist attraction, if the powers that be would recognize its value and correct the neglect. Hemming Park is the heart of the city and it's neglect says more about city priorities than any lip service from those involved in it's current status. I voted against the 'Better Jacksonville Plan', not because I didn't see the needs of the city, but because I saw it for what it was - a way to fund county road projects that would help the development community to create more sprawl. Anyone who was here then can see what it was all about now.

[johnny_simpatico]

I am seeing evidence of an annual "Leadership" trip to Charlotte. Before City leaders and the well-connected  sprinkle money around Charlotte, San Antonio, Indianapolis, or any other city  as a means for inspiration, they need to fix what is obviously broken in Jacksonville. Hemming Plaza and the parks along Hogans Creek are a disaster.  They should be restored to their original splendor -- and properly maintained. (Riverside and Memorial Parks could also use some work.)

[thelakelander]

Jacksonville Public Library leaders who advocated for funding restorations last month were back at the budget table Tuesday, explaining to a City Council panel why the Main Library will be closed Saturdays — a decision several council members aren’t happy about.
As part of the August budget review, the Council Finance Committee restored about $1.8 million to keep open six libraries — Beaches, University Park, San Marco, Willowbranch, Brentwood and Maxville — and maintain Sunday hours for four branches.

The cuts were in Mayor Alvin Brown’s budget and presented by the library board in an attempt to meet an almost 14 percent departmental reduction required by the mayor.

The committee approved refunding most of the library’s requests, but did not restore $449,641 for Main Library hours and $173,370 for materials.

In response, the library board voted to close the Downtown branch Saturdays instead of another day of the week. The Main Library is one of many open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays and one of five open 1-5 p.m. Sundays.

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=540553

Closing the one large thing that fronts Hemming Plaza, that's open on Saturdays, only puts another nail in downtown's coffin. 

[tufsu1]

that's a horrible idea

[Cheshire Cat]

Looks like there have been some improvements and not all of them approved.  I am loving the electrical box and who would have imagined that the city would allow it to remain.    See the second article on this link from today's Daily Record.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2013-10-08

[fsujax]

I was in Missoula,Montana this past week and they have all of their traffic control boxes painted, it looked really cool. Great display of public art.

[Cheshire Cat]

My thought when I saw the electric box was that it might be very cool if other artisans did the same and the city would allow their contributions.  We might just see some exciting art in the park that will begin to give Jacksonville's core park a more creative and vibrant personality.

[edjax]

Btw per story also in the Daily Record regarding the 124k for trimming the trees. This was a concern noted in the city budget thread. The story indicated the 124k is a one year contract for them to trim trees for all city parks.