JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville honored former mayor Tommy Hazouri by renaming a city park after him Thursday. Mandarin Park now carries his name. City parks, particularly those being built downtown are going to be a big issue in the coming years.
The late mayor’s cousin, Mayor-elect Donna Deegan, was at the dedication and talked with News4JAX about the future of parks in Jacksonville.
Starting with Friendship Fountain on the Southbank, it’s been undergoing repairs and renovations for quite some time now. The fountain is now expected to be up and running again by the end of summer.
If you look closely at the latest plans for Friendship Fountain park, you can see a playground, splash pad, picnic area and more. It’s a $6 million project, and plans are in the works for private housing and retail to go where the restaurant used to sit.
Just across the river, at the old Landing site, plans to convert it into a major park are also on the books. Riverfront Plaza, as it is now called, has seen many events, but there are plans to develop it more than just an open space.
“I’m very excited about making sure that we have the ability to develop that Riverfront Park area, I think it’s only about 30% funded right now and we got to take care of that,” Mayor-elect Deegan said.
Daryl Joseph with the parks department said, “We’re actually working with the Downtown Investment Authority, so there’s going to be a park component and there’s going to be a mixed use component as well.”
Joseph also sees a lot of opportunity in the museum district. “From a park standpoint, just a great place to bring families. Most of this was planned under the Curry administration and with the current city council approval.”
Mayor-elect Deegan is also excited about the Emerald Trail. When complete the outdoor destination will encompass approximately 30 miles of trails, greenways and parks that encircle the urban core and link at least 14 historic neighborhoods to downtown, Hogans Creek, McCoys Creek and the St. Johns River. The hope is to have the Emerald Trail built by 2029.