Urban Core Construction Update - February 2010

[Dog Walker]

It's obvious from the renderings that the architects made an effort to echo the spacing and texture of the old Federal Courthouse windows and siding on some of the new courthouse, which is a nice touch, but that Acropolis-stacked-on-Acropolis, forest-of-columns facade is UGLY!

[kells904]

I can accept the wall, if it is incorporated with some sort of design that makes use of the length of it.  Maybe some local artists can be commissioned to carve some funky-fresh relief into it.  If it's just a wall for the sake of having a wall, then yes, it sucks.  Who knows, maybe at some point down the road--after it's been tagged to oblivion, they can be persuaded to tear it down.  Not really choosing any one position or another over this wall...but at this point, it's too early to say what its function will be.  Just trying to remain open-minded.

[Overstreet]

Walls, jersey barriers, concrete bollards, etc will be  around court houses and other government buildings untill they forget Kansas City. It keeps the bombers from parking real close.

[reednavy]

You mean Oklahoma City?

[JeffreyS]

Walls, jersey barriers, concrete bollards, etc will be  around court houses and other government buildings untill they forget Kansas City. It keeps the bombers from parking real close.

So why go with walls when other barriers look better and do not intrude on pedestrian experiences.

[stjr]

Look it is a suburban campus in our urban center but it is too late to change that.

Yep, that's our standard answer in Jax.  It was noted during design in many quarters that this building was inappropriate for its Downtown setting.  Did the City care to listen?  No, they plowed ahead anyway with their "design by committee".  There are no excuses for this issue and apologies mean nothing.

How can we expect private development to support Downtown when the City, the supposed leader of the charge, not only doesn't live by its own pronouncements, but ignores its multitude of expensive "visioning" plans and actively works against them.  As I said before, it's why Downtown isn't coming back anytime soon.  Current "improvements" are just more lip service, just like the mass transit talk.  We, as a City, really aren't serious based on our actions to date.

[tufsu1]

because as it is now, it has potential to be a part of the downtown.  With a wall constructed, it no longer has that, and is guaranteed to do exactly what stjr says.  

It would seem a planner would understand the difference.

don't you worry...I do. 

I don't like the wall much...but thought the original comment related to the site as a whole...and while maybe not as good as we'd like, I think everyone can agree that it is a marked improvement over the area as it stands today.

And yes, I also know the area is the way it is today primarily because of ignorance and negligence by the City.

[Captain Zissou]

^ We can't afford to keep gradually improving sites. We need intelligent and sustainable designs now.  We can't have marginal improvements, that takes too much money.
Yes, the Transit center is an improvement, but it leaves a lot to be desired.
Yes, the courthouse is an improvement, but it leaves a lot to be desired.
Yes, Metro Park will be an improvement, but the money could have been better spent elsewhere.
JTB, Outer Beltway, Riverwalk..... etc

Even if it means the city does less, but creates smarter projects and better designs, I'm for it. 

[Ocklawaha]

Walls don't have to be substantial to do their job in the case of a bomb blast. Witness the lowly newspaper rolled up on the front lawn. Lay a stick of TNT on a tree stump and light the fuse... BANG, and you get a loud noise and a scorched tree stump. Lay a stick of TNT on the tree stump and lay that newspaper on top of it, light the fuse... BANG! And you get a yard full of sawdust, scratch one tree stump.

A simple wall WILL deflect the most deadly part of the blast straight upward, it will not deflect heavy shrapnel from plowing right through it. It's a sad choice that has to be made in this crazy world of ours, how much containment is needed at a public site. Note the Federal Courthouse has an elevated entry patio, so not only the wall effect of elevation, but the bunker effect of a few dozen tons of dirt berm to back it up.




OCKLAWAHA

[hightowerlover]

i dont think i necessarily feel like barriers and walls are a bad thing when the building is full of criminals... do we really need an interaction with pedestrian traffic... this is a security matter.  I don't see people at Berkman wishing the jail and their condos were less confined from one another.

[braeburn]

Well at least it is a step up from concertina razor wire...

[Dog Walker]

That wall would make a great surface for a spectacular tile mural.  Have seen this done in Mexico and Spain to take the curse off of the appearance and still keep the function.  Also easy to clean graffiti off glazed tile if it becomes necessary.

Commission a mural of the St. John's River circa 1901 with ferries and sailing ships.

[Captain Zissou]

^ We can't afford to keep gradually improving sites. We need intelligent and sustainable designs now.  We can't have marginal improvements, that takes too much money.
Yes, the Transit center is an improvement, but it leaves a lot to be desired.
Yes, the courthouse is an improvement, but it leaves a lot to be desired.
Yes, Metro Park will be an improvement, but the money could have been better spent elsewhere.
JTB, Outer Beltway, Riverwalk..... etc

Even if it means the city does less, but creates smarter projects and better designs, I'm for it. 

Zissou.  Can we start a third party on this idea?

Of course....?

[brainstormer]

^ I will support said third party.

[fieldafm]

Does anyone know what restaurant is being built out at Julia/Forsythe?