by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“Great things are coming out of this group already,” commented Mayor John Peyton at Thursday’s meeting of the Downtown Action Committee. He was referring to the lights that were installed in the trees at Jesse Smith Park on Forsyth Street near the Florida Theatre.
“It didn’t take a lot of money or resources, but it has made a tremendous difference,” added Peyton.
The committee is charged with developing more events for Downtown venues that benefit businesses as well as enhancing traditional events for maximum impact to businesses and benefit to the community. The group is working to “fill in the blanks” on the events schedule for the year, primarily by forging new public-private partnerships.
“The first step is to create ways to involve businesses that are close to event venues,” said Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Deputy Executive Director Paul Crawford, a committee member. “We are also developing ways to capitalize on the situation when enough people are Downtown to create a critical mass.”
Theresa Price, the City’s director of special events, said the annual 4th of July celebration represents an opportunity to do exactly that. With thousands of people planning to come downtown for the annual fireworks display, and with Independence Day falling on Friday this year, it is an opportunity to “make a long weekend out of it,” she said.
Involving the boating community through a marketing campaign at marinas to attract even more visitors downtown was one suggestion, and Peyton suggested the idea of closing the Main Street Bridge to vehicular traffic on July 4 to create a pedestrian connection to both sides of the St. Johns River.
Peyton also suggested coordinating a series of activities that would begin at different times so people could go from one event to the next and build momentum as more people arrived leading up to the fireworks.
“We can make Jacksonville the best 4th-of-July city in the South,” Peyton said.
Making Downtown more visitor-friendly during events is also one of the committee’s priorities, and mass transit will have a role in accomplishing that goal.
JTA Director of External Affairs Mike Miller said the Skyway could easily be reprogrammed to run until midnight and the cost of extra hours of service would be minimal since it’s an automated system. He also said trolleys could be used to move people around Downtown, from the Sports Complex to the Landing, for example. That cost, too, is minimal at less that $100 an hour per trolley.
Miller also announced a new service will begin May 5 with a lunchtime trolley route. Several stops will be made between the Landing and Five Points in Riverside, making it convenient for people who work at Blue Cross Blue Shield, Everbank, Fidelity Financial, the St. Joe Company and The Haskell Co. to go out for lunch in the Northbank. The service will also offer Downtown workers an opportunity to sample the lunch spots in Riverside.
“It will be convenient and, we think, popular because people won’t have to worry about finding a parking place either in Riverside or Downtown,” said Miller.
Photo by Max Marbut