by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The new County Courthouse is the last vertical element in the Better Jacksonville Plan. It has turned out to be one of the most consistently controversial construction projects in the City’s history.
There was controversy over the discarding of the voter-approved $190 million budget and original design in favor of the $350 million “Duval County Unified Courthouse Facility” project that’s scheduled to be completed by June 2012.
The next contentious discussion was about the basic design of the building. Then it was the controversy over the need for an elevated walkway connecting the new Courthouse to the State Attorney’s Office in the former federal courthouse building, followed by disagreement over the exterior design of the walkway.
The latest controversy involves whether Monroe Street between Broad and Pearl streets, two blocks that have been closed for almost three years, should be restored as part of Downtown’s roadway grid.
The City Council has been back and forth on the issue of closing the portion of Monroe Street adjacent to the new Courthouse for almost eight years, since Ordinance 2003-657, when council voted to close and abandon the right-of-way involved.
The most recent appearance of the issue on the council’s agenda was Feb. 8, when legislation was again introduced to eliminate Monroe Street from the Courthouse site plan. The bill also included modifications to the Courthouse plan for the location of the Public Defender’s Office and movement of funds for the Art in Public Places program.
Minutes after the bill was introduced, council member Michael Corrigan made a motion, which was approved by his colleagues on the council, to separate the three issues and have each introduced as standalone legislation.
At Thursday’s meeting of the Downtown Development Review Board of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, JEDC Executive Director Ron Barton presented to the board why the commission is seeking to remove Monroe Street from the site plan.
Barton said the discussion is not so much about the fate of Monroe Street, it’s “more about the plaza aspect of the project” and “we’re concerned about a road being the dominant pedestrian feature.”
He said the distance from the north edge of the proposed Monroe Street to the steps of the new Courthouse is less than 45 feet and the distance to Adams Street is less than 75 feet.
“It’s a common-sense issue. There’s not enough geography to drop a road in there,” said Barton.
Board member Andy Sikes responded after Barton’s presentation.
“If we put Monroe Street back, we’ll create the worst urban design disaster in history,” he said.
“Trying to squeeze Monroe Street back into this plan would be diabolical,” said board member Tim Miller.
When asked if there is any opposition to eliminating Monroe Street from the site plan, Barton said there is and that architect Ted Pappas is the most vocal opponent.
At that point, the board directed Barton to invite Pappas to attend its next meeting to present his views.
DDRB meets at 2 p.m. March 31 in the JEDC board room at 1 W. Adams St.
356-2466