Downtown is a step closer to a new Southbank Riverwalk that should be completed in September.
The city is reviewing a building permit application for The Haskell Co. to demolish and reconstruct the deck of the Riverwalk at a project cost of $14.9 million.
The project's address is 1015 Museum Circle. Demolition is expected to begin this month.
Site work includes removing the trees and shrubs in the planter boxes along the existing Southbank Riverwalk.
The construction permit covers the demolition and reconstruction, excluding the structure that housed the Jacksonville Historical Center pending an asbestos survey.
Debbie Delgado, a communications officer for Mayor Alvin Brown, said the survey was taking place Tuesday and the city expects a report by Monday, after which it will seek a demolition permit for the former historical center building.
Plans for the Riverwalk project were announced Sept. 5. The 28-year-old wooden walkway along the south bank of the St. Johns River is decaying and will be replaced with a mostly concrete structure.
The new Riverwalk will include 53,000 square feet of colored brick pavers atop pre-cast concrete; 5,600 feet of steel guardrails; new light poles; in-ground lighting; benches; pet stations; bike racks; and floating docks.
Delgado said the reconstruction would be about 3,000 linear feet.
The address on the project permit is for the former museum building, which Haskell already has demolished at project cost of $50,000.
Now called the Jacksonville Maritime Heritage Center, the museum moved to the Jacksonville Landing on the Northbank of the St. Johns River. The old building was vacant.
David DeCamp, director of communications for Brown, said in August the cost to rebuild the Riverwalk is not to exceed $15 million. He said most of the project will be concrete while the frontage at the Crowne Plaza will be replaced with wood "due to the owner's unwillingness to accept the improvement to concrete pile construction."
He said the bid provides for Riverwalk construction from Friendship Fountain to midway into the Wyndham hotel property.
"Extension and further enhancement will be based on available funding," DeCamp said.