Inspired by the St. Johns River, the looping design of a proposed 151-foot statue that spells "Jax" or "derp" or maybe something else or perhaps nothing all — depending on your perspective — has divided public opinion as surely as the river splits Jacksonville.
On one side, fans of the $18 million sculpture say it would put a uniquely Jacksonville stamp on the city's identity when people see it, whether in person or on television, while attracting people downtown for selfie photos in the reflection of its polished stainless steel.
That view of the statue helped put the Perkins&Will team over the top last month in a hotly contested design competition for how to turn the Downtown land where the Jacksonville Landing once stood into a world-class park.
On the other side of public opinion, an online petition topped 20,000 signatures this week from people pleading for city leaders to scrap the design because it would make Jacksonville a national punchline that just attracts "shame and jokes at our expense."
Read the rest of this story at TheFlorida Times-Union.
