by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The plot of ground bordered by Duval, Laura, Monroe and Hogan streets has been a landmark of Downtown and Jacksonville since shortly after the city was founded.
The 1.54-acre parcel was donated to the people of Jacksonville by Isaiah Hart and established as the City’s first park in 1857 and later legally deeded to the City shortly after the Civil War by Hart’s son, Ossian.
Known originally as "City Park," then "St. James Park," the ground wasn’t named as it is today until 1899. That’s the year after Civil War veteran Charles Hemming donated the statue of the Confederate soldier that still watches to the south in Hemming Plaza.
Over the years, the park included bandstands, fountains and restrooms and was at one time the central transfer station for city buses.
Local and national political candidates, including presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon in 1960, have hosted rallies in the park during their campaigns.
The transition from a park to a plaza occurred in 1978 when the City converted the space into a public space covered with brick pavers. Another renovation in 1986 created the “pedestrian-oriented mall” concept that’s found there today.
Hemming Plaza is being proposed as the subject of a design competition intended to help develop local standards and guidelines for “Low Impact Development.” LID is a trend in landscape design that reduces stormwater runoff and can save developers and property owners money when it comes to maintenance and upkeep when combined with plant varieties compatible with the climate.
Ordinance 2010-884, a proposal from the City’s Environmental Protection Board to get “Low Impact Design” ideas for the plaza through a contest, is making its way through City Council Rules, Finance and Transportation, Energy and Utilities committees.
Vince Siebold, chief of the City’s Environmental Quality Division, said Hemming Plaza was chosen as the subject for the contest because it’s the City’s only park that is virtually all of what’s called “impervious surface.”
That is, when rain falls on it, the water runs off into the street instead of soaking into the ground.
Siebold said he expects as many as 40 teams to enter the competition, and each team’s design will become the property of the City. Elements of the entries are likely to be part of a planned new set of guidelines that will be developed for builders and developers in Duval County to promote the reduction of stormwater runoff and long-term cost savings through design.
The contest is also intended to make the design and engineering community more aware of “Low Impact Design” practices.
The budget for the proposed contest is $40,000, including $15,000 for three cash prizes, publicity and the cost of an awards ceremony, which Siebold said amounts to booth rental and related expenses for all of the entrants to exhibit their designs at the Environmental Protection Board’s annual environmental symposium and awards program in August.
Siebold also said the contest, if approved, will be paid for not out of the City’s general fund, but from fines collected from violators of environmental regulations. He also said any funds earmarked for publicity or expenses and not spent will be returned to the Environmental Protection Board’s account.
While there are no formal plans for any renovations at Hemming Plaza, Siebold said the site is the best choice for the design competition. “The goal is not to do a project. The goal is to raise awareness,” he said.
For a copy of Ordinance 2010-884, visit www.coj.net, then visit the City Council home page and enter the ordinance number into the Legislative Bill Search option.
356-2466