by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The former Haydon Burns Library at 122 Ocean St. has taken a major step toward the day it will be Downtown’s newest destination for retail, entertainment and business.
The team of architects, designers and investors led by Bill and Barbara Cesery and Mark Rinaman appeared before the Downtown Design Review Board of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission last week. They were seeking final approval for “The Library,” their plan to renovate the 50-year-old former public library into a mixed-use development with restaurants and retail on the street level and office space on the two upper floors.
The board unanimously approved the plans for the storefronts, streetscape and landscape and will continue to consider the signage designs for the building.
The elevations for the renovation show that very little of original architect Taylor Hardwick’s will change other than there will be more doors installed. Rinaman said while the look of the building won’t change very much at all, its function will get a complete makeover.
“One of our challenges we faced was that libraries are designed to be secure, archival environments,” he said, then added, “We don’t want to make major changes, we just want to rehabilitate what’s there.”
The sidewalk part of the plan will also preserve the original look along Forsyth Street, with the expansion joints forming a pattern that radiates away from the structure when the new concrete is poured. The south side of the building will be where most of the exterior modification will take place. The new design includes a sidewalk cafe environment slightly below street-level in addition to seating for more than 300 patrons inside the space.
“The sidewalk joints and scoring make the design of the building go all the way to the curb,” noted Rinaman.
The retail portion of the project will be anchored by City Market, a grocery store and delicatessen that will be managed by Gallery Restaurants, LLC which also operates Burrito Gallery across Adams Street from The Library. Gallery Restaurants partner Paul Shockey said what has been learned at Burrito Gallery forms the foundation of what City Market will be.
“We’ve earned a great reputation with the urban professionals with our lunch business,” he said. “They want a fresh and consistently high-quality produce combined with convenience and fast service. We’re going to take that concept across the street.”
In addition to a full-line grocery store that will offer everything from organic produce to paper products, Shockey said there will be a restaurant element as well.
“The market will be a lunch spot where you can get a sandwich or a gourmet pizza,” he said. “We’ll have eat-in, take-out and take-home after work.”
Laughter doesn’t break out very often at DDRB meetings, but it happened during Rinaman’s presentation. One of the board members commented on the decision to call the development “The Library,” and Rinaman replied, “It’s shocking, but we conducted an extensive exercise to come up with that name.”