The public will have its chance next month to chime in on what the Jacksonville Landing should become.
The design and development behind the Downtown project met for the first time Thursday, an all-day meeting that had the sides walking the venue and voicing early ideas.
“Everybody is on the same page,” said Doris Goldstein, the Downtown Investment Authority board member chairing the project. “Everyone is excited about it … and we’re going in the right direction.”
One of the results was the decision to host a series of meetings with stakeholders and the public in mid-June, which will be used to consider uses of the Landing. That will be followed by a three-day charrette in mid- to late July to work on a Landing design.
The meetings are in the preliminary planning stages and more details will be revealed in the coming weeks, she said.
The result will be a vision plan for the site that shows open space and the size and massing of the buildings. That is expected to be completed by mid-September.
The two sides partnering for the project are Landing co-owner Toney Sleiman’s development team headed by Tom Senkbeil and the design side comprising Wakefield Beasley & Associates and Urban Design Associates.
Goldstein said some of the on-site discussion Thursday was about the open space, specifically relating to shaded spaces and how it could be better utilized. She declined to elaborate on other discussion points.
Ideas for reinventing the riverfront venue in the past year have included tearing it down and opening it more toward the river.
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