Since it was sold to the people of the city for $10 in 1866 by the descendents of Jacksonville founder Isaiah Hart, the one-square-block patch of real estate known as “Hemming Park” has been an ever-changing part of Downtown’s landscape.
The latest evolution began Tuesday when the Friends of Hemming Park, the nonprofit organization contracted by the city to manage the space, opened its office inside the Main Library and began setting up shop.
Funded with $1 million from the city for an 18-month agreement, the Friends of Hemming Park plan to make the area cleaner and safer. Programming is under development that will bring more people to the park.
The concept is to develop events based on “placemaking principles,” said Vince Cavin, executive director of the Friends and former events and operations director for One Spark.
Cavin has ended his full-time effort with One Spark and later this month, will end his tenure with Party, Benefit & Jam, a nonprofit that has staged events to benefit causes for education.
“I’m full-time with Hemming Park,” he said.
The staff for Hemming Park will be growing soon. The group has been accepting applications for three positions: events and programming director, marketing and community outreach director and operations director. The deadline for applications is today and Cavin said more than 60 people applied for the jobs.
Interviews will be scheduled this week and Cavin expects all three positions to be in place by Nov. 1.
A full-time social worker, another requirement of the management agreement, has been hired and will be in the Friends’ office and in the park meeting potential clients beginning Monday, Cavin said.
One of the aspects of the agreement with the city is to establish activities that will energize the park seven days a week and bring more people there Monday-Friday.
Cavin said quite a few ideas are in the mix, beginning with daily live music. One of the first physical improvement projects will be a small stage near the southeast corner of the park near the intersection of Laura and Monroe streets.
“It’s going to be important to develop that area. It’s the first part of the park people see when they walk along Laura Street,” said Cavin.
Also in the planning stages for the first phase are activities that will appeal to families with children.
The Friends are in discussion with the Museum of Contemporary Art to conduct some of the museum’s education programs in the park, such as ceramics and face painting.
The Main Library’s story times for children also could be added to park programming, Cavin said.
“We want suburban moms to bring their children to the park,” he said.
While most of the discussion on the first day of operation remained in the realm of “what the space will become” as opposed to “how it will be changed,” there already are new events listed on the Friend’s website, hemmingpark.org.
The park will be a venue Saturday and Sunday for the second annual Jacksonville Music & Art Festival.
On Oct. 11, “She Keeps Bees,” a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based songwriting duo, will perform in the park. Jessica Larrabee and Andy LaPlant are recipients of the Jacksonville Songwriter Residency, a Spark Grant program administered by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville.
Also on the calendar are the city’s annual “Holiday at St. James” on Dec. 5 and the debut of ARC Jacksonville’s “Running of the Bulls” 5K charity run, which will start at Hemming Park and then wind through the streets of Downtown on Dec. 6.
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