The Duval County Courthouse finally moves forward

[Metro Jacksonville]

The Duval County Courthouse finally moves forward



After nearly a decade of setbacks, the Jacksonville City Council recently approved plans to move forward with the construction of a $350 million county courthouse complex.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/774

[jeh1980]

I'm glad that this courthouse is finally moving forward. Let it come quickly!

[thelakelander]

I wonder what will happen to the half of two blocks remaining on the northside of Adams Street?  Hopefully, it becomes something a little more than a blank patch of grass or surface parking lot.

[Beloki]

MMM, I'm not totally convinced about the design.. For me personally it depends on whats going to be surrounding the courthouse...    Lets say the jury is still out 

[Jason]

I do like that they rerouted Monroe to curve around the front of the building thereby keeping the street grid better intact.  Still, this thing could have easitly taken up a single block.....

I wonder what will happen to the half of two blocks remaining on the northside of Adams Street?  Hopefully, it becomes something a little more than a blank patch of grass or surface parking lot.

I'm sure those patches will be filled with an "urban" grass and perhaps a couple statues or art.

[jmccharen]

We'll plant y'all some squash and collards on those empty lots. Don't worry. Maybe some mulberries too.

[tufsu1]

A similar re-routing of Church Street was done a few years ago....and now there is a terrific pocket park behind the Episcopal Cathedral....and the curvge made for a more interesting site plan for the Parks @ Cathedral townhomes.

Also, for those who worry that this is not "urban" enough....take a look at the recent posts from Lakelander about Toronto's courthouse.....that complex takes up several blocks and is set back quite a bit....what they did to make it work was create a public plaza space in front of the courthouse....the same could be done here over time!

[heights unknown]

I don't like the design, I don't like that it's taking up a thousand city blocks, but I do like the fact that it's finally moving forward!  Just hope some towers or other crucial development springs up around that area.  Bay Street station won't be that far away, so I hope that between the two developments, it will ignite a spark in that section of downtown and Lavilla/Brooklyn.

Heights Unknown

[Ocklawaha]

I still think it's about as good a match for Jacksonville as a 20 story Japanese temple. Come on Lake what will call this? Parthenon-on-LSD? Explosion in a pillar factory? Mayberry on Steroids? How about Revised Modern Gothic-Greek-Colonial-Landfill-Revival?

Ocklawaha

[Jimmy]

I just call it a travesty.  When I think of the original design that withered and died on the vine... and I look at this monstrosity... I am very sad.

I better edit to ad: I'm glad it's moving along -- I just think it's ugly as sin.  Maybe it will look better built.  But the renderings are nothing to get excited about at all.

[Steve]

Maybe the Peyton stewardship of The City just needed some maturation to get its wings under it.

Anyways, the excitement and energy downtown is palpable.

You can feel that there is something going on again, and the chatter and faces over coffee are much brighter.

You know what, considering that the Mayor's office is at most an eight year term, it is completely unacceptable to give them five years to get going.  This is ridiculous.

As far as the courthouse, it's about time he stopped blaming Delaney for this.  While I don't think it was Delaney's fault, I have no problem with this guy taking six months or so to get his feet wet.  I know nothing about construction, and if you gave me that project the same time Peyton took office, we would have private construction on the river right now.

(To be honest, I probably would have hired Sam Mousa on day 1 to deal with it)

[Driven1]

and the chatter and faces over coffee are much brighter.

LOL!  classic.  where can i see this??  i'm willing to pay a quarter to watch the brighter faces drinking coffee.

[stephenc]

Im just glad it getting done. Let's put this ugly issue behined us and getting rolling.

[thelakelander]

A similar re-routing of Church Street was done a few years ago....and now there is a terrific pocket park behind the Episcopal Cathedral....and the curvge made for a more interesting site plan for the Parks @ Cathedral townhomes.

Also, for those who worry that this is not "urban" enough....take a look at the recent posts from Lakelander about Toronto's courthouse.....that complex takes up several blocks and is set back quite a bit....what they did to make it work was create a public plaza space in front of the courthouse....the same could be done here over time!

Here's a few more images of that Toronto City Hall plaza area.  Its a pretty simple design that was built on the top of a two block underground parking garage.  It basically includes public restroom facilities, a concrete plaza, a little green space and a huge water fountain.  The plaza is used for special events and for food vendors during the day.  The fountain becomes a public outdoor ice skating rink in the winter.  The buildings surrounding it are pretty urban and feature a mix of uses.


the green spaces feature a few trees and monuments, such as this statue of Winston Churchill.


From the air, city hall is designed to resemble God's hands holding Earth.


The concrete plaza is used for vendor space.


the fountain, looking back at the original city hall building across the street.  The two towers in the background are constructed on top of a large mall that sits on the same block as the old city hall.

Sidewalks and buildings surrounding city hall's plaza


If you like cheap food served quick, the sidewalks surrounding the plaza is a zoo during lunch time on the weekdays.


Streetcar lines run on two sides of the courthouse property.  The streetcars appear to be a lot more popular then the city buses, which for the most part were empty.


the old city hall comes right up against the sidewalks.


there's also a college across the street.  The school worked with a developer who added big box retail stores at street level.

We'll plant y'all some squash and collards on those empty lots. Don't worry. Maybe some mulberries too.

This is actually a few blocks away, but I figured I'd post it for jmccharen.  A few more community gardens in the urban core would not hurt either.

If the land surrounding the courthouse site turns out like this, I won't complain.

[Jimmy]

If the land surrounding the courthouse site turns out like this, I won't complain.

My friend, that's an awfully big "if."  The good news is that we'll be well into the next administration when those decisions will be made (or certainly by the time they're implemented).  And I agree -- if we can look at some best practices from other cities and apply them to the courthouse campus and surrounding areas, that would go a long way to making this project palatable.