Deteriorating sidewalks and overgrown weeds are visible at the water's edge at Springfield Park. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on November 5, 2026 at 4:37 pm
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Q: Springfield Park has seen better days in its 119 years.
The park at 956 Hubbard St. was first named Dignan Park, then Confederate Park until the City Council approved its current name on Aug. 11, 2020.
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An ornate Hogans Creek Promenade was built along that waterway in 1930, after a flowered arbor was added in the 1920s. But today, sidewalks are cracked and bulging. The pond is ringed with weeks and aquatic plants. Recent rains have flooded some nearby streets, and the rose arbor is overgrown.
Jacksonville Today reader Ellen I. was aghast after an early fall stroll through the historic park.
She describes the scene as “dereliction.” The park “feels like a health hazard,” she says.
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“There is a complete lack of care when it comes to cleanliness and landscaping.”
A: Darryl Joseph, the city’s Recreation and Community Services director, says Springfield Park is “in the process of being reimagined” as part of work taking place on the Emerald Trail project.
Groundwork Jacksonville is working with the city to plan and build the 30-mile Emerald Trail, which has begun adding landscaped trails and parks through the urban core.
The trail will link at least 14 historic neighborhoods to Downtown, as well as Hogans Creek, McCoys Creek and the St. Johns River.
Specifically, the work will restore the 2.6-mile-long Hogans Creek, which runs from the St. Johns River through Springfield and is listed as high risk for storm surge and flooding of Klutho and Springfield Parks, as well as adjacent streets.
When done, this phase of the Emerald Trail will restore 1,300 feet of the creek, including 24 acres of wetland habitat and 1,900 acres of upland buffer.
The project lost $147 million in federal grant funding in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which could slow the Emerald Trail’s next phases, but the bulk of funding is still slated to come from the local option gas tax.
City officials say the Parks Department just performed standard maintenance at Springfield Park.
“They will be working to remove some of the broken concrete as this will be formally addressed as part of a larger plan,” the city says in an email. “The Emerald Trail along Hogans Creek from the S-Line to Union Terminal Warehouse is currently in the design phase.”
The flowered arbor is maintained by a citizens group. Joseph, the recreation director, says he will follow up and “make sure we address as required.
