Guest column: There is a plan for downtown
Your turn
The assertions that the city or the DIA are operating without a vision or a plan are simply inaccurate. The vision is there, the plan is in action, and while there is still much work to do, we have certainly come a long way since its inception. The master plan for the revitalization of Downtown one adopted with extensive public involvement, input, and the benefit of professional planning and economic expertise was approved by City Council in 2014 after more than two years of public meetings. The 300+ page master plan is currently in the midst of a five-year review and update and the DIA will be soliciting public input over the next few months. Sign up to receive updates at www.dwntwnjax.com.
Jacksonville Jaguars President Mark Lamping, MOSH representatives and DIA CEO Lori Boyer gave presentations on their plans for public and private waterfront projects.
09:40 PM EST Share Jacksonville Jaguars President Mark Lamping, MOSH representatives and DIA CEO Lori Boyer gave presentations on their plans for public and private waterfront projects.
Jacksonville public officials held a public workshop Feb. 23 with Downtown stakeholders to respond to public criticism that there’s a lack of planning for the St. Johns riverfront.
In a presentation at the Jacksonville Main Library, Downtown Investment Authority CEO Lori Boyer used the agency’s Downtown Jacksonville Conceptual 2025 Redevelopment Master Plan to show how she sees proposed riverfront private and public space development being planned to complement each other.
“In recent months we have repeatedly heard from members of the public and in the media that there is no master plan for Downtown and we are simply looking at projects piecemeal,” Boyer said. “In fact there is.”
COMMENTARY | During the frenzied and contentious push to sell JEA to a private utility company in late 2019, Mayor Lenny Curry s administration was preparing a super budget of more than $8 billion in citywide projects spanning 20 years, previously unreported documents that represent both a potent testament to the benefits a massive windfall could have had across the city but also another indication the mayor was not the aloof, neutral bystander on privatization he often held himself out to be.
The documents, obtained in a public-records request, offer insight into a sales pitch and a vision for the billions in sales proceeds that were never made public before the entire privatization effort crashed amid controversies over secrecy and executive compensation.