What a difference a few months make.
Crews are laying grass at The Jacksonville Landing site this week as they finish the festival marketplace’s demolition.
The city's Public Works Department told WJCT News Friday that the project is expected to be finished in early June and the land is expected to be reopened to the public in early July.
City spokesman James Croft said May 11 that the sodded Jacksonvlle Landing site Downtown will be available for events before it is redeveloped.
“The site will be a public greenspace for a period, like the Ford on Bay site following the old City Hall demolition, and can be reserved and permitted for special events by the city,” Croft previously said in an email to WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Record.
Mayor Lenny Curry’s Chief Administrative Officer Brian Hughes told WJCT News last year that a 2015 plan to redevelop the Landing is the starting point for future development.
That plan, which was the result of public meetings, called for public spaces but also envisioned everything from restaurants and apartments to a museum.
In March 2019, Jacksonville City Council members voted 15-1 to approve a measure that included a $15 million buyout of Jacksonville Landing Investments LLC’s long-term lease, an additional $1.5 million to help relocate tenants and $1.5 million to demolish the 32-year-old shopping center.
The city estimates the cost of the grass-laying portion of the project is about $65,000. The contractor will be maintaining the grass until it takes root. After that, the city will take over its maintenance.
If you haven’t been Downtown in a while you’ll notice a big change at the Jax Landing site as you cross the Main St. Bridge. Photos, story via @WJCTJax: https://t.co/HSISxKu4Yj pic.twitter.com/Eh7Gsa7Hpy
— Bill Bortzfield (@BortzInJax) May 29, 2020
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
