In the history of Jacksonville, no parcel of land Downtown has been discussed, studied and debated more than Hemming Plaza.
The latest discussion began almost 2½ years ago and as of this morning, there is no conclusion in sight.
What many hope is the final chapter in the current plan to enhance the 1-square-block public space at City Hall’s front door began Sept. 28, 2011 when City Council members Denise Lee and Robin Lumb invited Downtown business owners and stakeholders to discuss how the park is used and to explore ways to improve the experience of the park for the public.
That meeting led to the formation of a committee that pondered various viewpoints until July 2013, when a Request for Proposals was issued seeking a private entity operator for the park.
When not a single response was submitted, council President Bill Gulliford, who was chair of the committee, directed the RFP to be revamped.
“We need to make sure when we put this thing back out to bid, we get some good responses,” he said then.
The rewritten RFP received a single response, which called for taxpayers to kick in $765,000.
The proposal from I3 Jax DBA Friends of Hemming Plaza laid out a plan to hire six full-time and three part-time staff members to program and maintain the park.
The proposal includes scheduling events and activities in the park in addition to placing vendors in the park and maintenance.
The cost was $915,000 for the first year of operation, with the group saying it could raise $150,000, leaving the $765,000 gap for the city to cover.
The morning after the bid was opened, Gulliford had little confidence the plan could be approved.
“It’s a little disconcerting. I don’t know where (even) $250,000 would come from,” he said.
On Jan. 28, six weeks after the proposal was received, the city began negotiating with the group.
A month later, there is no answer to the question, “When will it end?”
Parks & Recreation Department spokeswoman Pam Roman said this week that negotiations are continuing between parks officials, city lawyers and Wayne Wood, listed in the RFP as chairman of the board of Friends of Hemming Park, and Bill Prescott, a Friends board member.
Prescott also serves on the boards of Downtown Vision Inc. and the Downtown Marketing Collaborative of the JAX Chamber.
One element is how far apart the two sides are in terms of the $200,000 the city has for the park in the 2013-14 and the $915,000 plan submitted.
Roman said the negotiations involve amending the proposal submitted by the Friends to meet the funds allocated for programming the park.
Another issue is that the possible management agreement would be a new type of relationship for the city and a contracted park user.
Roman said the city has agreements with athletic associations to use parks for sports leagues.
The associations agree to maintain the facilities — baseball fields, concession stands and bleachers, for example — in exchange for use of the park during specified times. The city provides no funds for the associations’ operations.
The city also has similar agreements with private groups, including the Boselli Foundation and Community Connections, which manage and perform grounds maintenance at some of the community centers.
Roman said for the city to begin negotiations with a bidder that has offered a proposal that so greatly exceeds the amount budgeted for the project is unusual.
“It doesn’t happen very often, but it (Hemming Plaza) is such a unique location,” she said.
Roman said she can’t put a timetable on when the issue might be resolved.
However, if it eventually is determined the two sides are at an impasse, the city’s options would be to rewrite the RFP to limit the scope of work based on the available budget or to develop a plan for the parks department to program the park.
“We hope that doesn’t happen,” said Roman.
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