On Nov. 10, Sam Mousa, Mayor Lenny Curry’s chief administrative officer, told the City Council Special Committee on Hemming Park “the mayor wants to take over the park.”
Whether the city will take over Hemming Park in April after 30 months of private management and programming remains to be seen.
But the bigger question is what the city would do if it does take back day-to-day control of the 1-square-block public space in front of City Hall.
Mousa’s declaration came as a surprise to the committee. Council member Bill Gulliford said he doesn’t care who runs the park — he just wants it to safely be available to everyone.
The committee will continue studying the future of the park in January.
The nonprofit Friends of Hemming Park took over management and programming Sept. 30, 2014, with a $1 million budget –– $800,000 from the Downtown Investment Authority and $200,000 from the city for its first 18 months of operations.
As the project progressed, questions were raised about the group’s fiscal policies and its ability to raise private funds — a requirement in the contract.
Council approved an additional $100,000 this past March and $150,000 in May from contingency accounts to cover the group’s expenses through March 2017 while the committee studies the future of the Friends.
The group focused on programming, such as small events on weekends and setting up a food truck and music during lunch Monday-Friday.
Safety and security — one of the primary reasons council agreed to turn over park operations to a private entity — proved to be a challenge.
A few months ago, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was replaced in the park by a private security firm other than when security staff calls for police officers to handle issues that require actual law enforcement action.
Businesses near Hemming say the Friends’ effort to bring more events Downtown led to some positive impact on their bottom lines, but the problem of perceived safety and security due to the park’s high transient population remains an issue.
Jake Gordon, CEO of Downtown Vision Inc., said the impact of transients on visitors, such as panhandling and improper behavior due to mental health issues, can be reduced by bringing a crowd Downtown and to the park.
The First Wednesday Art Walk, the monthly event that DVI has produced for more than 14 years, brings an average of 10,000 people Downtown, said Hana Ashchi, marketing and events manager.
With the recent addition of Front Porch at the Jacksonville Landing during Art Walk, the event has grown to 15 blocks and about 100 vendors, artists and musicians who set up in Hemming Park and along Laura Street to the Landing.
Art Walk requires a lot of planning — as much as three months in advance — and the event requires that all six members of DVI’s staff are on the site to ensure it runs smoothly, Ashchi said.
Gordon said an event on the scale of Art Walk or the annual Jacksonville Jazz Festival, can make the neighborhood feel safer, but it’s not reasonable to expect a major event on a weekly basis.
“It’s difficult to program over what people may not like about the park,” he said. “If we had Art Walk once a week, not as many people would come (to each event). It would dilute the effect.”
Emily Moody, owner of Wolf & Cub, a vintage boutique on Laura Street near Hemming Park, said while Art Walk can “make the month” for her shop, the smaller events don’t really add much to her business.
“We don’t depend on them. We can’t rely on them,” she said.
The annual Holidays in Hemming was Saturday. A partnership between the Friends and Sweet Pete’s, the event featured food, beverages, live entertainment and even snow. But it didn’t draw enough of a crowd to affect Wolf & Cub, even though the shop is a half-block from the park.
“It wasn’t our biggest day last week,” Moody said.
Chamblin’s Uptown has an outdoor café and sets up tables with umbrellas along the sidewalk for patrons.
Manager Jennifer O’Donnell said increasing safety in the confines of the park can negatively affect business at the bookstore and café.
“When transients are chased out of the park, they come here,” she said.
O’Donnell said the future focus for Hemming should be about more police presence to reduce nuisance crime and less about events.
“I’ve got plenty of reviews people have posted on the internet. They say they love the store and the café, but they don’t like the transients and the panhandling,” she said.
“Get the park cleaned up,” O’Donnell added. “Events have a positive effect because they bring more people Downtown, but people don’t need to be afraid to walk around.”
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