by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
A proposed redevelopment plan for the Haydon Burns Library site is having a hard time getting out of the ground, despite it having the support of a committee assembled by the mayor’s office. Earlier this month that special advisory committee recommended the City sell the soon-to-be-vacated library and the land underneath it to the Atkins Group Inc., who wants to demolish the building and develop a residential tower and retail complex in its place.
Main Branch, LLC, another group that responded to the City’s Request for Proposals issued by the Jacksonville Economic Developement Commission to buy the library and its Ocean and Adams Streets lot, is urging Mayor John Peyton to halt negotiations with Atkins and start from scratch with a new RFP.
This time, Main Branch representatives said, the City should require all interested parties to preserve the library and incorporate it into their plans.
“There needed to be a preservation component in the original RFP,” said Jack Shad, a partner in the Main Branch group. “That was a mistake that needs to be corrected.”
Shad appealed by letter to Peyton last week in an effort to drive that point home.
In the letter, Shad wrote “Surely at least one downtown building from the ‘60s should be preserved, and the Haydon Burns Library is the finest example from the period. We feel the City and the JEDC erred by not including preservation of the building in the RFP criteria.”
Main Branch, Peterbrooke Chocolatier and the Police and Fire Pension Fund had each expressed interest in reusing the library in proposals they submitted before the City earlier this year.
When asked if Main Branch’s 11th hour strategy was the product of sour grapes, Shad said “This is not about Atkins versus Peterbrooke. It’s about determining if the building is worth saving.
“If a new RFP went out, Peterbrooke could submit a new, more competitive bid.”
But at this time, mayor’s office press aide Kristin Key said Peyton has no intention of rescinding the RFP.
With seemingly no other available option, Shad and Emily Lisska, executive director of the Jacksonville Historical Society, said it might be possible to have the property designated a historical landmark.
With that designation, they said any alterations to the property including demolition would have to be approved via the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission. The City Council approves historic designations based largely on the JHPC’s recommendation.
“It would be a tremendous loss for the city if we tore down the Haydon Burns library,” Lisska said. “If things don’t turn around, the Historical Society will have to go to the commission to see what can be done. We’ve made it our mission to save the library.”
But beyond saving the library, Lisska said both its exterior and interior architecture should be left alone.
“The Historical Society opposes any alteration to the building,” she said. “It should be restored to the way it was when it opened in 1965.”
Lisska said Main Branch’s proposal to add a level of residential condominiums on top of the existing structure would be a mistake.
“I applaud Main Branch for wanting to save Haydon Burns,” she said, “but we don’t want to see the building altered like that.”
Lisska said the Historical Society favored the Peterbrooke proposal, which would convert the library into a chocolate-themed museum and manufacturing plant.
“It is our belief that they were the only suitable party to respond to the City’s Request for Proposals in that they wanted to keep the library intact,” said Lisska.