When Steve Pajcic was a kid, he and his family used to catch a bus to Downtown.
It’s where they did everything from Christmas shopping to going to the dentist.
Back then, Hemming Park was truly the center of the town. An oasis in the urban core.
Pajcic fondly remembers those days and sees the potential for them to return.
It’s why he and his wife, Anne, donated $75,000 to the Friends of Hemming Park this morning. To help the nonprofit continue the work it started nearly a year ago when after receiving a contract from the city to manage the park.
The agreement requires the nonprofit to hit staggered fundraising thresholds before receiving city-funded installments from the $1 million contract.
When Pajcic learned the Friends didn’t get a scheduled June 1 payment of $150,000 from the city because of a dispute over what revenue should be counted, he and his wife offered to help.
Pajcic said he’s been impressed by the way life has returned to the park just outside City Hall. How the nonprofit has done it without pushing the homeless people out, but instead making it an “inclusive, vibrant place.”
“Nobody’s been kicked out, but it’s been cleaned up,” said Pajcic, a prominent Jacksonville attorney. “It has good food offerings without being messy.”
Even after the City Council amended the contract Tuesday to allow park revenue and concessions to count toward the fund-raising goal, Pajcic’s donation stood.
Wayne Wood, president of the Friends board, said Pajcic’s gift is a challenge grant, a way to inspire others to donate.
Pajcic’s donation pushed the Friends over its total fundraising requirement of $250,000. But it doesn’t end the nonprofit’s need to raise money.
Wood said the group has a daunting task ahead of it, to continue the momentum it’s gained since September.
“We will be using Steve’s message to amplify we can’t do it alone,” he said.
Council members have expressed concern over the likelihood the nonprofit could succeed without receiving continued taxpayer assistance.
Wood said the group wants that, too, though it’s not on the immediate horizon.
Until then, he said, “We need help from the city and the public.”
Wood said the nonprofit’s efforts have changed the image of the park. “It’s actually becoming an attraction,” he said.
Pajcic enjoys walking through Hemming Park on the few days he leaves his office in the Wells Fargo Center for lunch. He’s a fan of Cafe Nola, the restaurant in the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville.
“It’s just alive, such a vibrant place,” Pajcic said of Hemming Park.
It brings back the memories of when he was a kid. Memories he wants other generations to have, too.
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