The World Golf Hall of Fame and IMAX theater sit near St. Augustine. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on September 28, 2023 at 5:19 pm
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St. Johns County is trying to figure out what to put at the World Golf Village property near Interstate 95 and International Golf Parkway. And the community has a wealth of ideas.
Most prominent among them: a church, a new school to help with overcrowding, a library and more restaurants and stores.
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The ideas came out Wednesday and Thursday during meetings to solicit the public’s ideas.
Certain sections of the property will be vacant once the World Golf Hall of Fame leaves World Golf Village and moves back to its original home in Pinehurst, North Carolina. The county is seeking ideas for the Hall of Fame property, the IMAX theater, the nearby PGA Tour Productions building and the space along South Legacy Trail.
Christine Keller is a small business owner at World Golf Village and says she, along with others, would like to see a family environment come back.
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“What we’re looking for is we want to bring the fireworks back to World Golf Village. We want to bring the family back to World Golf Village. We want to bring food back to World Golf Village other than Caddyshack, something that’s a small business genuinely,” Keller said.
Meanwhile, Eleven22 church member Richard Burke said he wants to see another Eleven22 church built on the property.
“World Golf Village is a beautiful place and a beautiful opportunity for us at a busy intersection to come in and partner with the county to repurpose those buildings and make it another church for our community,” Burke said.
No matter what ideas were tossed around, there was one constant concern from the community: traffic congestion. Several people cited traffic from a Buc-ee’s gas station, Costco and a new high school all within the same general area. What happens if more development is added?
Plenty of people also supported keeping the IMAX theater open either for convenience or to help draw people to the area. The county says it has been working to extend the PGA’s management of the theater to keep it running through the end of the year.
SunRay Cinema, a theater in Jacksonville’s Riverside community, previously showed interest in taking over the IMAX theater.
The ideas discussed Wednesday and Thursday are just that: ideas, not firm plans. The county says it will take the comments from community meetings and show them to consultants who will craft a plan for the area.
You can still give leaders a piece of your mind through an online survey that is open until Saturday. This survey is part of the process the consultants will use in coming up with a plan. You can access the survey here.
