Workforce housing. An entertainment venue. A public park. All have been suggested uses for the Jacksonville Landing.
With a new design effort underway, though, it’s back to being a blank slate. One the public has a chance to weigh in on next week.
The principals behind the project will host a public workshop 6-8 p.m. Tuesday at the Landing’s Blue Room, on the second floor behind Koja Sushi.
“We really are starting from scratch with no preconceptions,” said Doris Goldstein, the Downtown Investment Authority board member liaison for the project.
Design firms Wakefield Beasley & Associates and Urban Design Associates, along with the DIA and Landing co-owner Sleiman Enterprises, want to hear how people like to use and view the venue.
The design companies and Sleiman’s team toured the facility in late May after the firms were selected for the project that has an emphasis in public waterfront access.
The work starts with the public outreach Tuesday, Goldstein said, but don’t expect any pretty renderings or pictures.
Instead, it’ll be more of the principals listening to the public about what they like and don’t like about the Landing, possibly followed by breakout sessions and group discussions. The team also will have private focus groups over a two-day span while they are in town.
“It’s very obvious to us the Landing is a very important place to people,” said Goldstein. “I can expect we are going to hear all kinds of ideas.”
The workshop is the first of two parts of the public process, with the second coming sometime in late July. That’s when the visual components will be introduced through a design charrette that will take shape over several days.
After the workshop, the next step in the public process will come in late July when visual components will be introduced at a charrette expected to last several days.
Goldstein called that exercise exciting in that designs can change on the fly, with teams drawing and implementing ideas on the spot.
Goldstein said the timeline ideally has a design plan submitted to the DIA possibly by September.
“I think this process is very important,” she said. “It’s a period of exploration and facilitation … not only for the design but to engage the public.”
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