by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“The mayor has told us what he wants accomplished, but it’s up to us how it gets accomplished,” said Jim Bailey, president of Bailey Publishing and publisher of Financial News & Daily Record, to open Thursday’s meeting.
At the table was the group Mayor John Peyton has charged with initiating the ideas to implement one of the first phases of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s Downtown Action Plan. Peyton has called on members of the Downtown business community to join forces and coordinate their private-sector efforts with the City, civic groups, Visit Jacksonville and Downtown Vision Inc. in terms of special events and public relations.
“The goal of the committee is to serve as a clearing house for ideas from all the entities involved,” said Bailey. “Those ideas all center on one thing: bringing people Downtown.”
The first initiative is to improve the perception of Downtown among people who aren’t familiar with the entertainment and other activities that are available along the river in the urban core and get them to come Downtown and experience it.
Thursday’s meeting was a round-the-table discussion of what’s working and what could be improved, and the ideas came from a wide range of sources.
“We have to educate the community about what Downtown is. We have to change the perception that Downtown is just an 8-to-5 place,” said committee member Paul Crawford, deputy director of the JEDC.
Janice Lowe, general manager of the Landing, said coordination and communication have been the keys to improving the Downtown experience for guests in the hotels as well as the bottom line for the Landing’s merchants.
“We work very closely with the hotels to make sure we’re aware of what kind of groups they’re hosting,” she said. “We send a calendar each month to our merchants to make sure they know who will be in town and all the events at the entertainment and sports venues.”
John Reyes, president of Visit Jacksonville, pointed out that in addition to marketing Downtown to business and recreational travelers, the organization can also contribute to supporting events.
JEDC Sports and Entertainment Coordinator Mike Bouda suggested letting groups that are coming to town know about sports and entertainment events happening during their stays in Jacksonville.
Downtown’s places to go for food and drinks need to become more involved with special events, said Theresa Price, the City’s director of special events.
“The Jazz Festival is a perfect example,” she said. “We’re working with clubs to set up some late-night jazz jams, and they are talking to their distributors about drink specials and promotions.”
Toney Sleiman, one of the Landing’s owners, said he thinks having activities and places to go for people Downtown after they leave an event at the Sports Complex or Metropolitan Park is a good idea, but the logistics need to change.
“The way the traffic patterns are set up makes it difficult to get to the Landing or anywhere else Downtown after you leave a concert or a football game,” said Sleiman. “They put the cones up in the street and make it so you can get out of Downtown in 20 minutes. That’s fine for some people, but it’s hurting Downtown’s merchants.”
Sleiman also said he’s encouraged by the mayor asking the business community to join forces with the public sector for the common benefit.
“We can make this work because there’s one goal — to help Downtown grow,” said Sleiman.
The committee will meet on a weekly basis and each meeting will include restaurant owners, residents and merchants, all of whom will talk about ways to better promote Downtown as a destination and a place to stay after events.
“Our goal is to connect the dots of all the ideas and plans already out there and bring them to the table,” said Bailey.