There may not be two bigger proponents of downtown redevelopment than Bucky Clarkson and Don McClure. There also may not be two more frustrated downtown developers than Bucky Clarkson and Don McClure. For over two decades, both have played integral roles downtown.
McClure served as the City’s chief administrative officer from 1978-87 under former Mayor Jake Godbold. During that time, the old train station was renovated into the Osborn Center and the Skyway idea was created and put into motion.
Clarkson is chairman of The Clarkson Company, whose headquarters are on University Boulevard but has projects scattered all over the state. It’s one project in particular, one that hasn’t come to fruition, that Clarkson may be best known for — the long-promised hotel he (in his words) was supposed to build adjacent to the Osborn Center.
Daily Record staff writer Mike Sharkey met last week with Clarkson, McClure and Clarkson Company developer John Weatherby to talk about the past, present and future of downtown Jacksonville.
Jake’s role
According to McClure, Godbold got the ball rolling downtown by shifting some of the City’s financial assets from the suburbs back to downtown.
“He was strong on recreation,” said McClure.
Under Godbold, the City made the first major renovations to what was then the Gator Bowl by adding sky boxes and built the Osborn Center. McClure says Godbold essentially got tired of seeing cars filled with money-carrying tourists zip through town on I-95 south, just a short skip from downtown. Converting the old train station into a convention center was supposed to be answer.
McClure said Godbold also stole ideas from other cities. In Baltimore, he saw the beginnings of the revitalization of that town’s inner harbor. In San Antonio, Godbold saw a thriving riverwalk. In Minneapolis, he saw the positive effects of a performing arts center. All of those cities sparked the Landing and the Northbank and Southbank riverwalks.
“He had a vision for the city that became a working document,” said McClure. “Jim Gilmore and Jim Catlett were his DDA [Downtown Development Authority]. He had really talented people involved in many downtown projects. Our administration spent a lot of time on bringing downtown back. Albert Ernest, the banker who was president of Central Jacksonville at the time, said we could be ceremonial or roll up our sleeves and stop the deterioration of downtown.”
The Osborn Center
What started out as a grandiose plan has, depending on who you ask, turned into almost an eyesore. When the Osborn Center plan was conceived, its namesake was the chairman of CSX. McClure said a committee of seven was formed to look into the feasibility of converting the old train station into a first-class meeting facility. And, Godbold played a key role.
“Prime Osborn agreed to be chairman of the planning committee,” explained McClure. “There was a great feel for the old terminal. It’s where soldiers from World War II came home and it was a very popular spot. It was the most popular of all the projects.”
Two Requests for Proposals came back on the convention center. One was from The Haskell Company, which was also in the process of building the First Union-Omni Hotel complex. The other came from the Steve Wilson Group, which owned the terminal at the time and ended up selling it to the City, who hired several contractors to do the work.
One of the keys to the success of the Osborn Center, according to McClure, was the lowering of the viaduct in front of the Osborn Center which allowed developers to give the convention center’s front entrance a raised appearance.
“There was a plan in place and all the right processes were followed,” said McClure. “There was a strong push because Jacksonville was not getting its fair share of tourism. Thousands of cars were on I-95, but they were driving other places. Jake wondered why we couldn’t be more active in the tourism industry and the convention center was needed.”
The other two keys to the success of the Osborn Center are, to this day, bones of contention to McClure and Clarkson.
The abandoned idea, part I
Clarkson will forever contend he was promised the opportunity to build a first-rate hotel adjacent to the convention center. That contention will likely be settled in court. Earlier this year, Clarkson filed suit against the City, arguing that he was unfairly denied the chance to build his hotel.
“The plan was laid out and enormous amounts of thinking and funding were put into it,” said Clarkson of the overall downtown game plan at the time, which included his hotel. “Jake leaves and, basically, the plan was abandoned. As far as the suit goes, we’re in discovery right now and will go through mediation later this month.”
Clarkson says between the Landing and the Osborn Center, all the infrastructure and funding was in place to help put Jacksonville on the convention business map. It was near I-95, the airport is easily accessible and there was plenty of land available. That is until the Adam’s Mark Hotel idea arose and was eventually approved.
“The convention business never arrived,” said Clarkson. During negotiations with the Adam’s Mark, we agreed to go ahead with our hotel if the Adam’s Mark agreed to shrink back to 600 rooms, which is the Super Bowl minimum. Once we failed to reach that agreement, our partners left.”
Clarkson said he won’t pursue the hotel forever.
“I lose motivation when this consistently can’t be dealt with,” said Clarkson. “We have to walk before we can run and we had the chance to improve the convention center. If the next mayor perpetuates the talk of moving the convention center, we’re done. We’ll focus on the lawsuit.”
Abandoned idea, part II
Both McClure and Clarkson blame the ineffectiveness of the Skyway on the powers-that-be that came after Godbold left office. They both contend the Skyway’s low ridership — and its financial drain on the Jacksonville Transportation Authority — is directly attributable to two things: the fact the Osborn Center wasn’t developed and the Skyway doesn’t physically tie into downtown buildings on either side of the St. Johns River.
“The number one problem downtown is parking and the Skyway was created to help that,” said McClure. “The Skyway, rather than turn their backs on it, they need to make it work. The problem is, it was intended to be user-friendly.”
McClure says the original plans for the Skyway called for a ground-level rail system. Once the plans elevated the Skyway, the situation got worse.
“It was never envisioned that way,” said McClure of the overhead system. “The Skyway was intended to be tied into the buildings. A sustained effort should have been made to tie the facilities into the Skyway to make it user-friendly.”
McClure believes that several Skyway stations are in the wrong place. The Hemming Plaza station should be about 100 yards farther up Hogan Street and have a covered walkway attaching it to City Hall. The Osborn station is also about 100 yards misplaced and should also have a covered walkway connecting it to the second floor of the convention center. And, the Southbank office buildings should have pushed hard to be connected to the Skyway.
It’s the walk-go up-ride-get off-go down-walk process that deters downtown workers from using the Skyway on a regular basis. And, McClure says there are plenty to blame for its low use.
“It’s a lot of people’s fault,” said McClure. “Whoever the leaders have been are to blame. It’s possible to make these alterations and these are not huge expenditures.”
The crystal ball
If downtown opponents and proponents would like a glimpse of the future, they need to look at downtown Baltimore and its Inner Harbor district. For years, it was a forgotten blight of run down buildings and abandoned businesses. John Weatherby, the head of Baltimore’s version of our DDA at the time, realized the area had potential. He also knew he’d have to convince city and business leaders that a firm commitment would have to be made to revive the district. And, it couldn’t be done a little here and a little there.
Today, the Inner Harbor district is, arguably, Baltimore’s most popular zip code. The Landing is a scaled version of Baltimore’s and there are hundreds of loft and warehouse apartments as well as dozens of restaurants, hotels and shops. Baltimore area people and tourists alike both flock to the area.
“It was a major success because it involved the whole community,” said McClure. “They took out a bond issue every year to improve the city. They got federal money and they made downtown housing work. It was an inspiration to Jake and he thought [Baltimore economic leader] Don Schaeffer was one of the finest people he ever met.”
Similar to Jacksonville, Weatherby said there were skeptics in Baltimore when the revitalization effort was launched.
“They thought we were nuts,” said Weatherby, adding it took a smart marketing campaign to make the inner harbor plan work. “We had to pull people from every geographic area. It can work here, too. The Shipyards will impact Berkman [phase II] if they follow though and work west. There’s no reason why it can’t work here because the water is better here than in the Inner Harbor.”
The next mayor
At this point, with several viable candidates, neither Clarkson nor McClure cares who gets elected in May. They do know this much: the next mayor better not start backpedaling on downtown redevelopment. With the sports complex anchoring the east end of downtown, the Shipyards underway, Berkman and the new library and courthouses supporting the central core, the next mayor needs to assure growth continues into the LaVilla and Brooklyn areas. If that plan includes Clarkson’s long-planned hotel, so be it. If not, that’s OK with him, too, just don’t ignore the area altogether.
McClure, Clarkson and Weatherby all agree that the momentum has been established. To stop now would be devastating, especially with thousands of new residential units in the construction and planning phases.
“I’m not saying we are doing it backwards with residential coming before retail, but I’d say we are doing it piecemeal,” said McClure, who believes there needs to be an almost immediate retail push downtown to compliment the impending residential. “You do need to update plans. But if you change plans every time you change administrations, it can be deadly. The big stimulus is the Better Jacksonville Plan. When you move one direction, you have to think about what will happen in the other direction.
“Hopefully, he’ll be big into tourism as an economic stimulus and something that will create jobs. Tourism is a great producer. It doesn’t suck up resources, it’s clean and it pumps money into Jacksonville.
“There are opportunities for residents in Brooklyn and entertainment in LaVilla. Hopefully, all this stimulus will lead to other activity. We want people on the streets of Jacksonville.”
McClure points to Jacksonville Beach and what Mayor Bob Marsden has done the past few years as an example of the right way to revitalize a downtown.
“Look at downtown Jacksonville Beach. It was his [Marsden’s] platform,” said McClure. “He’s done a great job. That wasn’t piecemealed. They almost did it all at once. And now the condos are coming.
“The downtown is the heart of the city and you have to work to keep that heart healthy. It’s also the hardest to develop.”