by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
When the subject of the sold-out Jackson Browne concert at the Florida Theatre came up at last week’s Downtown Action Committee meeting, somebody suggested it would be great if those 1,900 people could have the opportunity to see what a great place Downtown is for having a good time.
Somebody else said wouldn’t it be great if we could have some JSO bicycle officers cruising the area and some Downtown Ambassadors to escort people to their cars after the show or give them directions to a cocktail just a few blocks away. Those things are easy – just call the JSO and Downtown Vision and it’s done.
Then it was suggested that it would really be nice if the park directly across the street from the theater wasn’t so dark when the people were leaving the show. That’s when it got quiet in the room because adding lighting to a City park doesn’t usually happen overnight, what with appropriating funds and approving designs and installing fixtures.
That’s when Toney Sleiman, co-owner of the Landing, said, “We do lights all the time. I’ve got plenty of lights and I’ll donate as many as you need to light up the trees in the park. I’ll even come over there and help you put them up.”
So Friday morning at 10 a.m. the lights started going into the crepe myrtles at Jesse B. Smith Memorial Park. Architect Tri Vu, whose office is a few steps from the theater and the park, contributed some advice as to how the lights should be placed. Vu installed lights over the sidewalk in front of his office and led the effort to light Downtown’s bridges before Super Bowl XXXIX.
Sleiman got the project started then staff from the Florida Theatre and a small crew of City workers got into the act. By the end of the day, the lights were ready to go for Saturday night’s crowd.
“It’s an example of putting action into the Downtown Action Plan,” said Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Deputy Executive Director Paul Crawford, who also helped install the lights.
Photo by Max Marbut