Published on July 11, 2023 at 11:32 am
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Work to transform a former shopping mall on Jacksonville’s riverfront into a city park with cafe and improved Northbank Riverwalk is finally underway this week.
The first phase of Riverfront Plaza construction means the closure of some Downtown streets for at least the rest of the year, during the transformation of the large lawn in the shadow of the Main Street Bridge.
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Mayor Donna Deegan said she’s excited that construction has started on what she calls “one of the centerpieces to transforming our riverfront.”
“The riverfront park system will bring in people from across the city to the waterfront to live, work, and play,” Deegan said in a statement. “It will be a top priority of my administration to invest in public infrastructure and parks to increase Jacksonville’s quality of life and grow our Downtown.”
Development has already begun on a number of other vacant properties along the city’s Northbank, some of those also parks, as renovation and new development also happens across the river along the Southbank Riverwalk.
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One piece of the Downtown riverfront under construction is the Four Seasons hotel, office building and expanded city marina on the old Kids Kampus site, just as designs are released for the second generation of Jacksonville’s Museum of Science & History across from Intuition Ale Works. Agency Landscape + Planning LLC, a landscape architecture and urban planning firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will develop a design for the planned 10-acre Shipyards West Park nearby.
Other planned riverfront development includes a 6,500-square-foot event lawn on the hotel/office building/marina site, improvements to the Metropolitan Park Marina and the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department’s Station 39/Marine 35 planned for land just east of WJCT Studios. The historic Fire Station 3 museum also moved in late March to its current site at 620 E. Bay St., near Pier 1, next to the USS Orleck naval ship museum.
Renovation of Friendship Fountain on the Southbank is closing in on completion, parts of it set for a fall reopening. And the next-door former site of the River City Brewing Co. could be home to The Related Group of Miami’s newly planned tower with 410 residential units, a parking garage and a waterfront restaurant.
But the first new park construction among all of these projects is Riverfront Plaza, designed by Perkins & Will, the design firm selected almost two years ago. The western half of the site, including the Northbank Riverwalk, is under development now, with plans for curving walkways, native plant gardens and a cafe with a playground on top of it.
Independent Drive is shut down because part of Phase I includes removing a portion of it to clear space for park amenities. Ultimately, Independent Drive will be rerouted to Hogan Street. Other first-phase work includes rebuilding the bulkhead and riverwalk along the entire length of the plaza to improve flooding resilience. That includes transforming part of Hogan Street into a pedestrian plaza connecting the Performing Arts Center with the park.
The first phase will take two years, with $25 million already in place expected to cover all of its costs, city officials said.
“This project is a major step forward in creating a series of first-class destination riverfront parks in Downtown Jacksonville,” Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer said in a statement. “These parks will give people from across the city new activities and programming to enjoy in the heart of the community, and will truly make our amazing riverfront accessible to everyone. They’ll also provide a new attraction for visitors.”
Phase II will focus on the eastern side of the site next to the Main Street Bridge. That work includes a pedestrian ramp from the bridge and the beer garden beneath it, along with a fountain and other elements. It could also include a 44-story residential tower proposed by American Lions LLC.
As for the park’s proposed 151-foot-tall “Jax” sculpture, the DIA has requested the assistance of Jessie Ball DuPont Fund to work with its artist on refining the art piece and its cost. The sculpture’s initial shiny steel design met with mixed public reaction, so its artist has been seeking input, the city said. That sculpture would not be installed until completion of the second phase.
View Phase I and Phase II renderings of the project.
Work on the site was set to begin in June, until city leaders decided the grass should stay unscathed so crowds could watch July 4th fireworks, plus keep its adjoining streets open for the swearing-in ceremonies of Mayor Donna Deegan and the City Council nearby.
