by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Improvement, enhancement, renovation and remodeling.
Those are words that often precede “project” when it comes to describing City construction work.
None of those words apply to what will soon take place on the Southbank Riverwalk.
“What we’re talking about is replacement. We’re starting from scratch,” said landscape architect Chris Flagg, principal of Flagg Design Studios.
Flagg has been retained by The Haskell Company to design the concept for the $15 million project to replace the deteriorated wooden boardwalk from Friendship Park east to the School Board Building site.
Flagg said the project creates some construction challenges because part of the existing structure was built on pilings and other parts are supported by a framework attached to the bulkhead due to the characteristics of the riverbed on the south side of the St. Johns River Downtown.
The new riverwalk will be constructed of concrete, possibly precast and staged at Metropolitan Park or the former JEA site on the Southbank. The components could be transported from the staging by barge and assembled on-site.
It’s “an opportunity to create another visual element, a destination with vitality and functionality,” said Flagg. “The Southbank has a different personality than the Northbank.”
Part of the difference is the Southbank’s proximity to the historic San Marco neighborhood. Flagg said his design answers a question: “How can the Southbank Riverwalk tie into the community for pedestrians and cyclists?”
The north end of the 4,500-foot replacement begins at Friendship Park, which is undergoing a $3 million improvement project scheduled to be complete in June.
Just south of that area and underneath the Main Street Bridge, Flagg envisions a children’s play area and perhaps an amphitheater. Flagg said the space represents an opportunity to “bring the vitality of the Riverside Arts Market to the Southbank.”
He’s also designing a new look for the Naval Memorial and statue, possibly the site of an overlook extending over the river with a view of the Main Street Bridge and the Northbank skyline.
Another design element is what Flagg called “shade sails,” which are fabric-covered structures that provide shade but require less maintenance than trees. They would also add a distinctive architectural element to the new structure.
“The Southbank is the forgotten side of the river Downtown. This project can be the catalyst to change that,” said Flagg.
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