by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
After receiving promises from two mayors and numerous statements of the City’s commitment to its cause, the Springfield Preservation and Revitalization Council said Wednesday they want more than assurances that Main Street improvements will continue; they want a timetable.
The renovations from First to Fourth streets are almost complete. New street lamps illuminate smoothly–paved sidewalks. As the SPAR Council met Wednesday, the hum of heavy machinery could be heard grinding outside their Main Street office, planting trees in the street’s new median.
As proud as the Council is about what’s already been accomplished, the progress on the first four blocks serves as a stark contrast to the untouched streetscape north of Fourth Street. The next eight blocks were scheduled to receive the same treatment in time for the Super Bowl. But after State funding fell through in September, the project’s second phase now looks unlikely to be complete in time for the Feb. 6, 2005 game.
Wednesday’s SPAR Roundtable meeting brought together neighborhood activists, property, business and homeowners. They all said they invested in the area because the improvements were promised, first by former mayor John Delaney, then by his successor, John Peyton. Now they worry that their neighborhood will not be a full participant when the Super Bowl brings hundreds of thousands of tourists and millions of dollars to Jacksonville.
“I don’t think any of us doubt the mayor’s commitment to this project,” said SPAR President Louise DeSpain. “But the question now becomes a matter of time. When is it going to happen?”
Area business owner Lena Castro spoke for several neighborhood proprietors when she said she had invested into her Heritage Bed and Breakfast, expecting the project to be finished in time for the Super Bowl rush.
“There are too many other things downtown going fast and furious to get ready for the Super Bowl for me to accept the City putting this project off,” said Castro. “It doesn’t make sense to spend millions of dollars to redevelop some areas while right next to them looks like an embarrassment. We don’t want to be an embarrassment, we want to be a part of the Super Bowl, we are downtown’s Main Street.”
Mayor’s office spokesperson Heather Murphy said the mayor is committed to the project, but said that its completion would require outside funding. She said the mayor’s staff was working daily to find that funding.
“The mayor really does believe in this project,” said Murphy. “He sees Springfield as a treasure neighborhood of Jacksonville.”
In e-mailed responses to Main Street complaints, Peyton has said the City is looking into federal transportation dollars that may be available in early 2004.
The project’s first phase was 53 percent funded by the State, which paid $2.1 million to the City’s $1.9 million. The City learned in September that the State would not fund the project’s remainder.
DeSpain said she was worried that the project could get lost in a funding tug of war between the City and State.
“I hope I’m mistaken, but I see a standstill developing where the City is waiting for more State money, and the State is saying, ‘We’ve done all we can,’ ” said DeSpain. “My concern is the project’s going to be delayed and it could end up costing us twice as much money to get the project restarted.”
Area property owner JoAnn Tredennick said the project would fit perfectly in Peyton’s business philosophy.
“The mayor says he wanted to run the City like a business, well business people look at returns on investment. From that perspective this would be the last project you would stop. It pays off in so many ways: jobs and increasing the tax base,” she said.