JWJ Park?

[thelakelander]

Low budget for a space that size, unless its going to be something basic and not on the level of what our peer cities have been spending in their downtown spaces. So we're likely looking at this vacant patch of grass for the next four to five years. I'd rather them heavily landscape it, as it would look better than a lawn. However, that would mean we'd have to maintain the landscaping.

[Steve]

Is the $5M just for the design or the construction? That's nothing for construction.

[marcuscnelson]

Says construction in the CIP. Design was $500,000 in a "Prior FY Budget" (in addition to $750,000 in construction), with another $1,000,000 in construction beyond 5 years.

[BridgeTroll]

I stand corrected.

Big upgrade to the existing 50-year old fountains.



Can’t you just smell the vibrancy and the focused, incremental progress that can only come from having a unified plan?

We’re all playing checkers.

The city is playing chess.

  Rofl... this is SOOOOO Jacksonville ... 

[heights unknown]

Sad; so, so very very sad. And yes, SO Jacksonville. No organization, planning, or even thought.

[Charles Hunter]

The caterpillar sculpture rivals Derp in magnificence!

[fsu813]

How many years are we out from an actual park renovation? Is it in the CIP yet?

There's $5 million in the CIP for FY 26-27 to "provide a redesign of the park." That's it.

That can very easily change.

[Ken_FSU]

How many years are we out from an actual park renovation? Is it in the CIP yet?

There's $5 million in the CIP for FY 26-27 to "provide a redesign of the park." That's it.

That can very easily change.

RiversEdge Park -> Supposed to open in 2022; delayed to December 2024
Friendship Fountain -> Closing in on four years fenced off; no funding for actual park
Musical Heritage Park -> Designs in hand since 2017; no progress on park
Riverfront Plaza -> DIA already letting us know that the two year estimate for Phase 1 construction may be a smite too aggressive
Lift Every Voice and Sing Park -> behind schedule
RAM Skate Park -> behind schedule
Met Park -> effectively closed for years
Main Street Pocket Park -> LOL

I'll believe it when I see it.

We need to have some damn pride in our city.

I mean, this is right on the front steps of City Hall. Perhaps the most important block in the city.

Would Savannah allow something like this? St. Augustine? Nashville? Charlotte?

[jaxlongtimer]

^ Growing up in Jax, aside from the statue and calling it Hemming Park, I always thought the design from the 1960's was decent.  Never understood why they ripped up the green spaces and paved over everything multiple times.  Maybe we just need to stop being so fancy and go back to simpler times.  Those days, the park had a certain "center of a small town" feel to it that was very approachable.  Biggest issue I recall was a large population of pigeons .

Pictures are below are from various time periods to give you a feel for the ambiance that made it into the 60's which appears, to me, to be the first, and maybe, second pictures.  The aerial in the third picture claims to be from the 1950's.

[Ken_FSU]

^Great photos!

And great point about Hemming, at the time, having that "center of a small town" feel.

That's another thing that we're really kind of failing to consider when we talk about downtown redevelopment.

Where do we envision our central civic space being amongst all these downtown plans?

Hemming served this purpose in past decades, playing host to multiple presidents and acting as our city's central town square.







Once the Landing was built, the Landing's perfectly located riverfront central courtyard effectively became our new "town square." It's where major political speeches took place. It's where the 1996 Olympic Torch came through on its way to Atlanta. It's where people celebrated holidays and huge city milestones like the city being awarded an NFL franchise.







Where will our central civic space be in five years when all of this work is (hopefully) completed? Does the city know? Does the DIA know? Is the necessary infrastructure being put in place to accommodate it?

P.S. Another semi-iconic piece of James Weldon Johnson park removed because it didn't fit the mysterious "long-term vision" that someone or another has for James Weldon Johnson Park, but hasn't shared with the public.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2023/07/26/mosh-museum-mouth-sculpture-moves-to-wayne-woods-jacksonville-home/70470984007/

[simms3]

RiversEdge Park -> Supposed to open in 2022; delayed to December 2024
Friendship Fountain -> Closing in on four years fenced off; no funding for actual park
Musical Heritage Park -> Designs in hand since 2017; no progress on park
Riverfront Plaza -> DIA already letting us know that the two year estimate for Phase 1 construction may be a smite too aggressive
Lift Every Voice and Sing Park -> behind schedule
RAM Skate Park -> behind schedule
Met Park -> effectively closed for years
Main Street Pocket Park -> LOL

I'll believe it when I see it.

We need to have some damn pride in our city.

I mean, this is right on the front steps of City Hall. Perhaps the most important block in the city.

Would Savannah allow something like this? St. Augustine? Nashville? Charlotte?

No.  No serious city would allow any of this.  We treat this city and its public spaces like our country currently treats our border (that is to say no self-respecting country would allow to happen what we are doing there).

Goes to my lengthy post earlier - I hate saying this and believing this, but I think our wealthy donor class / business leader class in the *private* sector, especially those FROM here and entrenched here, have less pride in this city than their peers do in their other respective cities.  I'm shocked the business community allows this to even happen.  I can see why the greater F500 business community in this country would want cheap labor through illegal immigration to replace higher waged actual citizens, however, down at the city level I don't understand why they would want to live/operate in a city that looks like crap everywhere.  I mean, they did privately spruce up the parks in their own neighborhood (Stockton Park and Baker Point), but downtown?  Who goes downtown?

[iMarvin]

^ Growing up in Jax, aside from the statue and calling it Hemming Park, I always thought the design from the 1960's was decent.  Never understood why they ripped up the green spaces and paved over everything multiple times.  Maybe we just need to stop being so fancy and go back to simpler times.  Those days, the park had a certain "center of a small town" feel to it that was very approachable.  Biggest issue I recall was a large population of pigeons .

Pictures are below are from various time periods to give you a feel for the ambiance that made it into the 60's which appears, to me, to be the first, and maybe, second pictures.  The aerial in the third picture claims to be from the 1950's.

Love these pictures. Reminds me of the central plazas you can find at the heart of any Latin American city, big or small. St Augustine's Plaza de la Constitución is a good local example.

Just recreate that and I'd be satisfied.

[marcuscnelson]

There are apparently open house events later this week to discuss a Master Plan Update for Jacksonville Parks, "including the next steps for" James Weldon Johnson Park. Thursday afternoon and Friday morning at the Main Library.

https://twitter.com/JWJParkJax/status/1688641550467715072?s=20

[simms3]

^^^
Simms3 can you post a picture of these three teardowns?

This should be good.

I'm just now seeing this.  I don't have an image hosting service any longer, and I don't want to give away my own home, but what what I can tell you is that I live in a boundary between Talbot and Rensselaer and between Park and Randall, which is admittedly not a small area (12 blocks), but y'all can go poke around in there and I'll tell you that on my block (meaning one block long, both sides of road) alone there are 3 easy tear downs, and there are certainly quite a few more in that area.  One of these is inhabited by the family of previous owners, passed down, and they're not going anywhere (unfortunately).  Another is a rental that is unkempt and the renter is allegedly a drug dealer (we all take turns mowing the lawn and edging).  The third I'll explain further down....

Not everything is worth saving and we'd like to see some go.  In fact, on my block there is a double lot housing a historic two-story wooden home right now that was taken off the market altogether and is now trying to rent (and having trouble).  It's such a disastrous floorplan, and even though it's historic, it would be nice for everyone on the street to have a clean slate, someone with money come in, and build something nice and new that could resell.  The whole double lot isn't sodded and mowed, so it's a sea of weeds in there on half of it.

[thelakelander]

There are apparently open house events later this week to discuss a Master Plan Update for Jacksonville Parks, "including the next steps for" James Weldon Johnson Park. Thursday afternoon and Friday morning at the Main Library.

https://twitter.com/JWJParkJax/status/1688641550467715072?s=20

I stopped by this afternoon. There are like a million different options to select from. Hopefully, they have them digitally available soon.