One woman didn’t like the turnabout in front of the Jacksonville Landing. The cobblestoned circle that boasts the iconic statue of Andrew Jackson wasn’t pedestrian friendly, she said.
She plopped down a red dot on a map of Downtown, directly over the part where the turnabout was printed.
Red is bad. It means something that isn’t working. Something that should be changed.
A couple of her tablemates nodded in agreement. The room of about 100 people was filled with muffled suggestions and conversations like the one taking place.
“The signage in Downtown is terrible,” one man said.
Another red dot.
Several feet over, another group was hunched over a map. Alike in many ways but the colors. More greens, more reds, more blues. Dots meticulously placed across the map.
“I think Laura Street has to be a nice corridor,” one of the women said. “And it all needs to be connected.”
Down went several green dots along the corresponding thoroughfare and the Northbank riverwalk.
Green’s good. It means something that’s working.
As for blue dots? Potential. One group had several blue dots along the Southbank Riverwalk.
The greens, reds and blues served as a sounding board of sorts. It was a chance Tuesday for the public to weigh in on what they thought the Landing — and by extension, Downtown — should and shouldn’t be. It was part of a public workshop hosted by the Downtown Investment Authority and the Landing design and redevelopment team.
The dotted maps, followed by five-minute group breakdowns, all will be collected and incorporated as possible points for the design and development team going forward.
Some themes emerged, although there was no real consensus.
Opening the venue to allow sightlines to the river down Laura Street was a common response. So, too, was making the venue and surrounding riverfront overall more accessible and pedestrian friendly.
Removing the on- and off-ramps from the Main Street Bridge also was a common refrain, a suggestion that would rid the area of concrete obstructions.
Those are ideas that have been talked about in the past, even incorporated into a Landing design last year that never gained traction within community circles.
But, not all the ideas were common.
Sure, there were a few calls for a movie theater, a grocery store and a public park.
But, what about a water park? A floating amphitheater? Making it an “island” that boats could better access?
Tom Senkbeil, the developer chosen by Landing co-owner Toney Sleiman, said the feedback showed the high level of interest in what happens to the property.
“It could be so many things,” he said.
Doris Goldstein, the DIA liaison for the project, said she was happy to have such responses. The project team met with the public for about two hours Tuesday evening, but spent most of the day meeting with groups like the Urban Land Institute and NAIOP for feedback. There are more private meetings today with other groups.
The feedback will be compiled then incorporated next month during a multiday charrette — a time when verbal suggestions turn visual.
DIA CEO Aundra Wallace afterward said he was pleased to see so many new faces participating.
Many who participated Tuesday were Downtown advocates. Others were simply Landing proponents.
“I’ve always had a soft spot for the place,” said Sam Burks.
Burks said he worked long ago at the venue before moving, but returned to Jacksonville less than two years. When he heard of the workshop, he said he wanted to offer some ideas.
“It’s time for it to have some changes,” he said.
Like the Landing’s sign — it needs to go or at least have a changed style, he said. But, there was one current design of the building he doesn’t want to see go.
“I love the orange roof,” he said. “I hope somehow they keep it.”
He was the only one who voiced that idea. But it’s in the mix with the rest of them.
@writerchapman
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