by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The fate of the Osborn Center won’t be decided any time soon, but City leaders are going to start taking a hard look at what many consider an eyesore, but what others consider an opportunity waiting to happen.
The Downtown Development Authority is hosting a
LaVilla sub-district meeting Wednesday morning at City Hall. Earlier this year, the DDA approved spending $100,000 for a consultant to examine the LaVilla district — and specifically the area immediately surrounding the Osborn Center — and come back with an all-inclusive plan for the area. The question now is, will that plan include the convention center or not?
The answer certainly won’t come Wednesday morning, but there are clear lines drawn between those who believe the convention center is fine where it is and think it should be expanded and desperately needs proper amenities surrounding it and those who believe it should be moved east, perhaps to the riverfront property currently occupied by the county courthouse.
City Council member Elaine Brown has grandiose plans for the Osborn Center and surrounding area. For months now, she has pitched her transportation hub idea. While the idea has its detractors, Brown said her concept essentially takes a bad situation and makes it better.
“It’s a shame that there are people that can’t face reality,” said Brown. “The automated Skyway isn’t working and the convention center isn’t working in LaVilla. But, it’s reality. Our tax dollars went to those two things and we need to try hard to make those two things work for people in the future.
“We need to work together to make that area a hub of activity. One, we need a good transportation hub and two, we need a working convention center with a good hotel.”
Brown said she’s tired of wasting time talking about moving the Osborn Center and she doesn’t want another dime spent looking at the feasibility of such a move.
“If we fight and talk any more about moving the convention center, nothing will happen,” said Brown, who is also a proponent of doubling the current size of the Osborn Center. “We need to include a hotel as we build an addition to the convention center.”
Council member Reggie Fullwood agrees with Brown. The time is now, Fullwood says, for the City to make the commitment to the area — which is in his district.
“I’m along the same lines as Elaine,” said Fullwood. “We have two options. We can expand it and build a hotel or move it. I don’t want to move the convention center. The City has a substantial investment in the current location and to make the area more attractive and successful LaVilla needs to be developed. We need to focus on making that happen. I hope that’s what happens in this sub-district meeting.”
Caught in the middle is Mayor John Delaney. The Osborn Center wasn’t renovated during his administration and his top executives made it clear that creating, passing and implementing the Better Jacksonville Plan has been his top priority since early in his second term. With just over six months left in office, Delaney isn’t going to get involved in the Osborn Center fray.
“He [Delaney] has made it clear that the convention center is an important issue for the community, but it will have to be handled by the next administration,” said Audrey Moran, Delaney’s chief of staff. “He has had a full plate with the Better Jacksonville Plan. Obviously, some changes have to be made to the convention center itself and some day the area. Or, it has to be moved.”
Fullwood sympathizes with Delaney and understands his reluctance either to start the wheels in motion or take a firm stand.
“I don’t blame him, especially after completing the Better Jax work,” said Fullwood, adding he understands the convention center is a community issue that Council should, and will, take up soon. “Our posture is, let’s step up to the plate, push the convention center in one direction and let the next administration know what we want.”
Fullwood also firmly believes the whole LaVilla area should be developed at virtually one time. Whether it’s done by a private developer or through a public-private partnership, the convention center expansion, hotel and entertainment district should happen within a short time of each other.
“There needs to be a mini Mater Plan and we need to do the pieces at the same time,” said Fullwood. “I think it needs to be a package deal. If we need to put out an RFP [Request for Proposal] and create an incentive package for the hotel, let’s make that happen.”