JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An aquarium, a museum, even a floating amphitheater! Those are just some of the ideas pitched Tuesday night at a meeting about the new design for the Jacksonville Landing.
The Downtown Investment Authority and the city asked residents for their opinions on what should be changed there.
What they learned was that a lot of families want to bring their children to the Landing, so they want to see it become more family-friendly. They also want to get a lot of runners from the local community to go downtown and use the Landing area along the river to train.
"What should happen here at the landing? What role does it feel for the city? What needs to be on the space?" asked Doris Goldstein, with The Downtown Investment Authority.
Those are just some of the questions posed to the public in the effort to redesign the Landing.
"We've heard from a lot of people that this is a good site for residential. They definitely want open space on the river. They want to have an area where people can relax and be in the shade," Goldstein said.
And those were just a few of the ideas that were presented as concerned citizens, city officials and design professionals color coded maps with potential ways the city could attract more business owners, tourists and locals to the space that was once just a parking lot.
"Even though the Landing didn't ultimately succeed as a concept of a marketplace, what it did, for the first time, they provided a space in downtown Jacksonville where people can gather on the river," Goldstein said.
During group break-out sessions, ideas like a living area, a movie theater, an aquarium, a museum and even a floating amphitheater were all suggested.
One group even asked to expand the docking area to make room for yachts and expressed the importance of adding more parking.
"People feel connected to the Landing. They feel it's an important part of Jacksonville and they want to be a part of what happens here and have a say on it," Goldstein said.
This was the first of two public meetings on the redesign. The next will be at the end of July where visual components will be introduced.