by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
There was an unusually diverse program on the agenda for Mondays’ meeting of the Downtown Rotary Club. In addition to hearing about the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s plans to implement the Downtown Action Plan, members and guests also saw a 15-minute documentary produced by Rotary International.
The film recognized Downtown Rotary’s accomplishment in sending a Mercy Ship floating hospital to provide medical care to more than 7,000 people in West Africa last year. The effort was led by club members Benson and Sharon Woodbery, who were featured in the documentary along with members of a rotary club in Ghana that partnered with the Downtown rotarians.
Kyle Rahn, director of U.S. Development and Major Gifts for Mercy Ships, said the impact of the club’s contribution went far beyond providing dental care, surgical care and mental health counseling to poverty-stricken areas in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
“The partnership with Rotary also created community development,” said Rahn. “They were able to drill drinking water wells and built a school and a clinic. The partnership also provided training for HIV education and prevention.”
Sharon Woodbery spearheaded the fund-raising effort among the Downtown Rotary Club members and raised $500,000 that was matched by the Rotary Foundation to pay to send the Mercy Ship to West Africa. She said the key to success was perseverance.
“If you keep asking and asking, eventually you’ll get what you need,” commented Woodbery, who received Rotary International’s Paul Harris Fellow Award in recognition of her efforts.
She also pointed out the club has already committed $300,000 toward sending the Mercy Ship back to Africa again this year.
“This is not something that is going to stop after just one year,” said Woodbery.
The club also heard about the Downtown Action Plan from Bob Rhodes, chair of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission (JEDC) and Paul Crawford, JEDC deputy executive director.
Rhodes pointed out that while more than 50,000 people work Downtown during the week, only about 2,000 people live there and, “Despite being less than one percent of Duval County’s land mass, Downtown accounts for about 15 percent of the county’s property tax revenue.”
Crawford detailed the 19 points of the Downtown Action Plan and said one of the first parts that should be implemented is enhancing the mass transportation options in the urban core.
“We need to improve the bus and trolley service,” he said, then suggested changing the names of the trolleys from the current Sunflower, Magnolia and Azalea to names that will reflect the trolley’s destination after the routes are changed.
Crawford also said new signs designed to help visitors — particularly pedestrians — find their way around Downtown also should be a short-term priority.
“Some of the signs we have up now are so out of date, the destinations aren’t even there any more,” said Crawford.
Another initiative that should be implemented immediately, said Crawford, is promoting more special events that will bring more people Downtown and position it as a destination.
Rhodes challenged the Downtown Rotary Club to help plan and stage such an event this year, and his challenge was met with enthusiasm from the membership.
Club President Jack Diamond said he thinks it might be possible to bring back “Downtown Dazzle,” an annual black-tie event that was once popular for more than a decade. He said the Main Library would make an outstanding anchor venue for such an event that could be held later this year.