A movement that began with a City Council committee more than two years ago could come to its conclusion by August.
The City Council is expected to begin reviewing legislation next month that would transfer administration of Hemming Plaza from the city to a private nonprofit corporation.
A Request for Proposals to manage the park and schedule programming yielded in December a single response, that from Friends of Hemming Plaza. The group’s proposal specified a $915,000 budget for the first year of operation with the city covering $765,000 of the cost.
Since then, the Downtown Investment Authority has adopted an 18-month, $1.25 million budget for the private operation of the 1-square-block park adjacent to City Hall, the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, the Main Library and the Bryan Simpson U.S. Courthouse.
The city Parks & Recreation Department has earmarked $200,000 per year for operation of the park and the prospective new administrator has agreed to raise $250,000, said Bill Prescott, a Friends of Hemming Plaza board member.
“The $1 million is there to operate the park,” he said Wednesday at a meeting of the board of directors of Downtown Vision Inc., of which he also is a member.
Other Friends’ board members include DVI Executive Director Terry Lorince; Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville board chair Diane Brunet-Garcia; Tony Allegretti, a JAX Chamber official who’s soon to become executive director of the Cultural Council; Vince Cavin, director of operations and finance for One Spark; and Wayne Wood.
Prescott said assuming City Council approves funding the Friends, the organization plans to hire at least three full-time management positions. He said DVI will “leverage Block by Block,” the subcontractor that operates the Downtown Ambassador program for DVI, to provide maintenance services in the plaza.
Purchase of new street furniture and maintenance equipment, including a pressure washer, will cost about $150,000 and the city might furnish office space for the Friends in the Ed Ball Building near the plaza, Prescott said.
District 4 City Council member Don Redman, whose district includes Hemming Plaza, said Wednesday he’s optimistic his colleagues will approve funding the plan.
“I think the City Council will be on board. They want to see a change,” he said.
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