by Bailey White
Staff Writer
Organizers of Saturday’s inaugural Skyway Progressive Party have barely had time to recover from their weekend, but they’re already thinking of plans for the next Skyway party.
“I think there will be another one within a year,” said Diantha Grant, president of the Downtown Enhancement Committee of the Downtown Council, the group that hosted the event. “We’re meeting next week to share feedback with each other and to talk about ideas for the future.”
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority, a major sponsor of the event, also has plans for a future Skyway party.
“Overall, we were very please with the response,” said Stephanie Barker, communications coordinator for JTA. “It was more than we expected. [JTA director] Michael Blaylock was very pleased and has encouraged us to go ahead and think about next year and how we can make the event bigger and better.”
If a high attendance level is a mark of success, the party was a smash.
An estimated 800 people rode the Skyway between six stops at the party. Each stop featured a different form of food or entertainment — at one it was Morton’s steakhouse and a Celtic band, at another it was 1950s-style diner food and a disk jockey.
The evening ended on the rooftop of the Suddath building parking garage, which PRI Productions turned into a scenic party destination.