As a retiree, Warren Jones said he has visited many parks around the country.
So Jones was pleased to see several elements included in the plans for Shipyard West Park on Wednesday.
The 60% complete plan was unveiled during a four-hour open house at the Central Library to solicit community input on the 10 acres between East Bay Street and the St. Johns River.
In addition to a cafe with a rooftop “amenity space,” the design also includes exhibition space, a recreation room, and a grass field for concerts and events. Between the piers there is a circular boardwalk over floating wetlands and space for kayak and small boat rentals. And a fishing pier, sports courts, picnic areas, and lots of trees.
Jones said Jacksonville has a “great opportunity” to build something people want to see, but it needs to happen soon.
“What we love here is that there are places where you can interact with the river, go kayaking, or rent a small boat to go around. There are also places where you can hike and places that are kid-friendly,” says Avon. The Dale man said. “I don’t plan on being in the sun too long, both for young children and for older people like me. If people want us to interact with the park, provide us with shade.” is needed.”
The USS Orleck, a retired U.S. Navy destroyer housed at the Jacksonville Naval Museum, already occupies the western edge of the proposed park site. After seeing the design, Jim Webb, the museum’s executive director, liked the direction of the park, which would be partially nautical-themed, with space for outdoor events on the pier, which is part of the shipyard’s past. said.
“There are so many people walking in front of Oreck right now. This is going to bring even more people downtown,” Webb said. “Some of the proposals that we see here today are working on such ship curvatures, sculptures that look like whales or ship ribs. There are a lot of nuances in the design of the park as well. It reminds me of a shipyard.”
Jacksonville Shipyard takes its name from the site of a huge ship repair and construction dry dock along the waterfront that was built in the early 1900s and permanently closed in 1992. Numerous proposals have been received to develop the waterfront site into condominiums, retail, restaurants and recreational sites since the 1990s, until the current plan emerged for the site between Berkman Plaza Condominiums and Hogan’s Creek. Construction began in the early 2000s.
Along with Orleck, the grounds include a historic fire museum, but it is not yet open to the public. The city has extended Katherine Street to the river and created a paved parking lot, but that is also not open yet. The remainder of the site will be used as overflow parking for events at Bicester Veterans Memorial Arena and nearby sporting events.
Agency Landscape + Planning LLC, a landscape architecture and urban planning firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is developing the design for Shipyard West Park.
After several open houses and community meetings, Agency Planning developed a design that retains many of the shipyard-era piers.
Visitors to the open house were able to speak with designers and leave sticky notes with ideas on a display showing park proposals. As the design nears final stages, company co-founder and landscape architect Gina Ford said they want to be “open to” feedback from the community.
“We feel like it’s very much in line with what we’ve heard, so if there’s anything significant, we’re definitely open to amendments and improvements. But this is a pretty solid vision and pretty “I think it’s here to stay,” she said.
“Those are the food and beverage establishments along the waterfront, cultural attractions like Oreck and the Fire Museum,” Ford said. “We have a recreational pier with flexible sports courts for things like pickleball and sand volleyball. And there’s a lot of shade too – lots of green trees and shade. Today’s Jacksonville is sweltering. It’s such a hot day, so I’m grateful.”
The city has budgeted approximately $25 million for the design and construction of the first phase of Shipyard West Park. The total cost will be revealed once the desired park design has been determined.
If the city OKs 60 percent of the design, Agency Planning will work on a final design with some tweaks based on this week’s open house. The final design could be approved late this year or early next year, with construction on the first phase possibly starting in 2025.
“We’re hopeful that this will be final approval of the plans. The next step is just working out the details and construction documents,” Ford said.
The park is part of a planned redevelopment on both sides of the downtown waterfront.
Construction continues on the Four Seasons hotel, office buildings and expanded City Marina on the former Kids Campus site on the east side of Gator Bowl Boulevard. A new science and history museum, potentially opening in 2026, is planned on his 2.5-acre site just east of Hogan’s Creek and across from Intuition Ale Works.
The city held a similar open house in April to solicit public input on a reimagined Metropolitan Park on waterfront land between the Four Seasons Hotel site and WJCT Public Media on Gator Bowl Boulevard. Other parts of the riverfront development include improvements to the Metropolitan Park Marina and the relocation of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department’s Station 39/Marine 35 just east of his WJCT studio. Construction of that pier is underway.
For future updates on the Shipyards West project and the park survey, please visit www.shipyardswest.com.