The Super Bowl in 2005 and One Spark in 2014.
Each brought tens of thousands of people Downtown, including its share of out-of-town visitors, and created a general positive attitude about the vibrancy and potential for the urban core.
Yet, after the NFL’s signature event, investment never really followed the way some anticipated. The show came, left town and Downtown has little tangible results, outside the memories of those who were involved or took part.
On the heels of the successful One Spark festival, the question is: How does Downtown keep its momentum?
“I think it’s a great question and one we are reviewing and analyzing,” said Michael Munz, a One Spark board member and executive vice president of the Downtown-based Dalton Agency.
Munz said one key is to not rely on One Spark to be the event responsible for attracting economic development Downtown, but instead to consider it part of the picture.
“There’s pent-up demand for an interesting, vibrant Downtown,” he said.
Munz has a distinct vantage point. In addition to being entrenched with One Spark, he also served on the Super Bowl Host Committee that helped prepare the city for the game. He called it a “once in a lifetime” opportunity for Jacksonville, but said One Spark offers more.
“One Spark is becoming more than an event,” he said. “It’s a sustainable ecosystem that lives 365 days a year.”
He refers to programs like KYN, a business accelerator that spun out of the 2013 One Spark, and CoWork Jax, a collaborative workspace environment used by smaller businesses and startups.
It’s that smaller scale, organic investment that will further Downtown as a whole, said Terry Lorince, Downtown Vision Inc. executive director.
“The Super Bowl came and went and the intent was investment,” she said. “With One Spark, while that’s true, we still have a community as a whole that’s still here and has far more community ownership.”
Lorince said interest in the Barnett Bank Building and renovations of Snyder Memorial Church are examples of what “the new vibe” is like for Downtown.
Plans for the historic 18-floor Barnett Building are a mixed-use of bottom-floor retail and upper floors filled with office space, classroom, retail and student housing. KYN, One Spark Worldwide and CoWork Jax all will be tenants, developer Steve Atkins said last week.
That’s the type of investment Lorince said she thinks will make Downtown grow.
“I am looking for more of that to be percolating,” she said. “Groups of five to seven people … these five to seven people may end up growing to 300 people.”
Lorince said several inquiries were made during the festival from attendees interested in space for a coffee shop, restaurant and artists looking for space.
“They want to be a part of this,” she said.
She also said there were takeaways from One Spark that can benefit Art Walk, the monthly Downtown event that spans more than 15 blocks and features participation from many businesses and venues within the urban core. One initial takeaway is more of a focus on music — not just staged performances, but those that are incremental, smaller in scale and more of a surprise.
As for what many call the centerpiece of Downtown — Hemming Plaza —a group that is seeking to program the park year-round gained the backing of the Downtown Investment Authority last week. The Downtown Investment Authority passed a resolution to spend $800,000 as part of a Friends of Hemming Park operations and management contract, which City Council must still sign off on.
If approved, the five-member group of Lorince, Wayne Wood, Bill Prescott, Diane Brunet-Garcia and Vince Cavin would be responsible for keeping the park clean, safe and promoting the venue through programming. The group would hire nine staff members for the project.
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