by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
In early October, the Downtown Development Authority sent out Requests for Proposals for the Haydon Burns Library. DDA managing director Al Battle said he expects to start getting those RFPs back in December.
While it will take months for the DDA and other agencies to cull through the responses and ultimately decide on a project, the RFP does represent some progress regarding the site. The fate of the building — or just the property — has been a topic of discussion since the Better Jacksonville Plan, which included a new downtown library, was passed.
“Specifically, we are looking for proposals responsive to the Downtown Master Plan, first and foremost,” said Battle. “Considering where it is and what is around there, it’s not a bad place to do a lot of things. It could be housing, commercial office or some interesting arts or entertainment project. Or, a combination of those things.”
Built in the 1960s, the library currently sits in a strategic area of downtown: just a few blocks east of City Hall, the new U.S. Courthouse and the new Duval County courthouse and just a few blocks west and north of what promises to become downtown’s entertainment district.
Although the RFP is fairly generic and speaks of redeveloping the site, it does not address whether or not the old library can be demolished.
“I’m not aware that the library would have any historical elements, so to me anything is on the table,” said Kirk Wendland, executive director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission.
Several months ago Vestcor chairman John Rood inquired through Mayor John Delaney as to the possibility of his company simply buying the library and the land for market value. Rood’s interest makes sense considering he’s in the process of converting the old American Heritage Life building — which is on the same block as the library — into 126 loft apartments which will be called 11 E. Forsyth.
DDA chairman Jim Citrano said he didn’t know Rood was interested in the library, but would like to see his project’s success dictate the future of the library site.
“I don’t think the DDA has any bearing on what the site will be,” said Citrano, referring to the fact the DDA will only analyze proposals, not influence what’s submitted. “But the ‘what if’ factor is if 11 E. Forsyth is going well, it would make sense to continue with residential. I hope the downtown residential takes off.”
Citrano also believes the library should be razed rather than remodeled and thinks the returned RFPs will also reflect that thinking.
Wendland, too, said the City will have no bearing on what the RFPs contain, but admitted site is a topic of discussion.
“Obviously we talk about it,” said Wendland. “The RFPs are out there and I’m not going to say our thoughts are.”
Battle will host a pre-proposal meeting Monday at 10 a.m. at City Hall. Any developer interested in the site can show up and ask Battle and other DDA staffers specific questions about the proposal before submitting their response later this year.
The site for the new $95 million library east of Hemming Plaza is currently being prepared for construction. The Robert A.M. Stern design will be three times as big as the current library and will have a 600-space parking garage with retail space on the ground floor. Better Jacksonville Plan officials say the new library will be dedicated in late 2004.