JWJ Park?

[fsu813]

^ was really impressed by the options.

Banding, 99 Trees, and Allee are my 3 favorite concepts.

Not a huge fan of the gigantic led screen on the skyway station, personally.

[jaxoNOLE]

The recent activity on the Friendship Fountain thread brought this topic back to my mind -- did they ever share the options presented at the open house? I have not been able to find them.

[Charles Hunter]

Apparently, there are Open House meetings tonight (Monday 11/6) and tomorrow on the new JWJ Park master plan. However, I can't find anything about either the meeting or the plan online, even on the JWJ Park website.

[marcuscnelson]

The city posted about yesterday’s meeting on Twitter, which you can see some of the proposals from, upon my asking for an uploaded version they responded:

Both JWJ Park and the designer are discussing those details.  When and if they do get posted, we will be sure to share them with everyone.  Thanks!

[thelakelander]

^What's the timeline on this study's completion? I assume this isn't in the CIP, so any actual changes may be years away still?

[Ken_FSU]

The city posted about yesterday’s meeting on Twitter, which you can see some of the proposals from, upon my asking for an uploaded version they responded:

Both JWJ Park and the designer are discussing those details.  When and if they do get posted, we will be sure to share them with everyone.  Thanks!

Considering that this is probably the most iconic, historic park/square in the entire city, it's pretty wild that there isn't widespread community and media involvement like there was with Riverfront Plaza. Almost feels like these workshops are being done just to check a box. I work a block away and keep missing these because they're not communicated out properly.

Thanks for posting, Marcus!

Here are a couple of the boards from the tweet.





I actually quite like the LCD board fronting the Skyway Station. It's an easy way to regularly activate the park at night with movies, sporting events, etc. A lot of cities (Miami most recently) are using in-park LCD boards as digital billboards during certain hours of the day, and using the ad revenue exclusively for park upkeep and programming. I'm sure the idea would have detractors, but every single one of these new parks we develop should have mechanisms in place to fund upkeep.

In terms of the above designs, would love to pop in and take a closer look (or have Friends of JWJ share them out, it shouldn't be an "if"), but as I've been saying for years, the absolute best model in the world for this space would be Bryant Park in New York. Active uses on the perimeter, flexible green space in the center that's regularly and seasonally programmed. When you're bounded by the St. James building, Synder Memorial, the Main Library, the Western Union Telegraph building, the Federal Courthouse, the Seminole Building, the Skyway, etc., you don't need to overdesign. Add a real stage, permanent food and beverage options at the north end, open up the retail bays in the Main Library to the street, activate Snyder, and make it a true open gathering spot, versus repeating the mistakes of the past and making it a walkthrough plaza.

^What's the timeline on this study's completion? I assume this isn't in the CIP, so any actual changes may be years away still?

No idea on the timeline, details haven't been shared publicly, but nothing in the short term CIP that I know of. $5 million tentatively allocated for 2026/2027.

[thelakelander]

Considering that this is probably the most iconic, historic park/square in the entire city, it's pretty wild that there isn't widespread community and media involvement like there was with Riverfront Plaza. Almost feels like these workshops are being done just to check a box. I work a block away and keep missing these because they're not communicated out properly.

Thanks for posting, Marcus!

Looking at the number of graphics, there's been no expense spared. Hopefully, something good is eventually settled on and is built before 2030.

[Ken_FSU]

Considering that this is probably the most iconic, historic park/square in the entire city, it's pretty wild that there isn't widespread community and media involvement like there was with Riverfront Plaza. Almost feels like these workshops are being done just to check a box. I work a block away and keep missing these because they're not communicated out properly.

Thanks for posting, Marcus!

Looking at the number of graphics, there's been no expense spared. Hopefully, something good is eventually settled on and is built before 2030.

Fingers crossed!

I believe the study itself had a budget of $1.25 million.

[marcuscnelson]

Found another tweet from the JWJ Park account with more photos.

[tufsu1]

some of these renderings and models were available at a parks open house at the library a few months ago - looks like they've expanded some since

[fsu813]

Swung by today.

There are only three versions to choose from moving forward, which combined popular aspects of the previous drafts shown in the photo above. All look good, my favorite is Circuit (different than the old version pictured above).

Personally, not a fan of a new, large digital billboard dominating the park and city hall, as depicted. A toned down version could do the job, be a great compliment.

[jaxlongtimer]

In terms of the above designs, would love to pop in and take a closer look (or have Friends of JWJ share them out, it shouldn't be an "if"), but as I've been saying for years, the absolute best model in the world for this space would be Bryant Park in New York. Active uses on the perimeter, flexible green space in the center that's regularly and seasonally programmed. When you're bounded by the St. James building, Synder Memorial, the Main Library, the Western Union Telegraph building, the Federal Courthouse, the Seminole Building, the Skyway, etc., you don't need to overdesign. Add a real stage, permanent food and beverage options at the north end, open up the retail bays in the Main Library to the street, activate Snyder, and make it a true open gathering spot, versus repeating the mistakes of the past and making it a walkthrough plaza.

This!  Bryant Park is a great model. Sadly, I don't think JWJ is large enough to pull that off.  However, Bryant could be a model for a larger park along the river.  Just another reason why we need larger park parcels!

About Bryant Park:

Occupying 9.6 acres in midtown Manhattan, this park was originally a potter's field. Between 1839 and 1900, it was the site of the Croton Reservoir and Reservoir Square, renamed Bryant Park in honor of William Cullen Bryant in 1884.