OPINION | Much ado about historic Downtown Jacksonville and its Northbank riverfront

Public financing to help restore a trio of historic Downtown buildings and develop three Northbank public parks came under specific scrutiny recently by the Special Committee on the Future of Downtown and City Council’s Finance Committee, respectively.

That’s not nothing.

In particular, the special committee’s willingness to learn from local architectural historian Wayne Wood about the Laura Street Trio’s singular importance to historic Downtown was both refreshing and promising, and stood in stark contrast to what City Council members often hear during typical public comment sessions.

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Might this opportunity to learn from a well-informed local citizen, with a certain expertise city council members do not have, open the door to a companion presentation from local citizens steeped in iconic riverfront parks, namely advocacy groups Riverfront Parks Now and Late Bloomers?

These companion presentations would be much ado about something, deepening the special committee’s appreciation of historic Downtown Jacksonville’s promise and hopefully inching our elected officials toward developing a genuine master plan for restoring historic Downtown.

10 minutes is not nothing

Wood was invited to give a 10-minute presentation on the Laura Street Trio of buildings, liberating him from the restrictive 2-to-3 minute opportunity local citizens are afforded when council committees and independent authorities deem public comment necessary.

During his history lesson-in-brief, Wood provided an understanding of historic Downtown’s unique architecture, complete with an informative slide deck and this significant tidbit: Jacksonville is home to one of the largest number of extant Prairie-style buildings—a distinctive American architectural style inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan and practiced by our very own Henry J. Klutho—in the country.

Almost no American city, according to Wood, has what we have.

That is much ado about something.

Laura Street Trio status

The Special Committee’s ensuing question and answer session with Laura Street Trio developer Southeast Group and Deegan administration officials, enriched by though not dependent upon Wood’s introduction, sounded promising. We learned that Southeast is bringing much needed additional financial equity to this public-private partnership, an important step forward according to administration officials.

Time will tell, but the discussion’s tone and tenor gives one reason to hope.

3 Northbank riverfront destination parks

The Finance Committee’s meeting with Parks, Public Works, and Downtown Investment Authority staff this week was much less engaging, and included no significant presentation by engaged local citizens. Chairman Ron Salem confessed to feeling “handcuffed,” and understandably so because Metropolitan Park, Shipyards West, and former Landing site park plans are maddeningly complex and complicated.

To be fair, a Finance Committee meeting may not be the appropriate place to hear thoughtful input from our most engaged citizens.

The Special Committee on the Future of Downtown is, and proved as much by inviting Wood’s presentation.

Would that special committee members concern themselves not only with DIA’s role and authority, financing new Downtown developments, parking and restaurant incentives, but also with the Northbank riverfront.

If the Special Committee wishes to deeply understand historic Downtown Jacksonville, to fully grasp its potential, its members would do well to invite presentations by architect Ted Pappas, and riverfront parks’ experts Riverfront Parks Now and Late Bloomers.

Their doing so would be much ado about something.

Sources:

This column appears under a partnership with JaxLookOut.