JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The old Jacksonville Landing site is finally getting a makeover.
After more than three years of waiting for development, the city of Jacksonville started construction on Monday at Riverfront Plaza as heavy equipment moved in.
The goal of the construction is to transform Riverfront Plaza into a park with a large green space and public amenities. Crews will eventually build walkways, gardens and a cafe with a playground.
MORE: Design plan featuring massive ‘Jax’ sculpture picked for former Jacksonville Landing site
The improvements are something most everyone News4JAX spoke to downtown said would help the area.
“I just moved in over at The Carling and it’s weird because there is no center of downtown. There’s The Elbow, this area, restaurants, Cowford. Like on Sunday, Monday it’s a ghost town,” said Ryan Santos.
Kevin Carrico joined the Jacksonville City Council shortly after The Landing was torn down.
“There’s a lot of debate,” he said. “We’ve seen the renderings of the ‘Lerp’ or ‘Jax’ statue. A lot of debate when I got on council. Talked to a lot of neighbors on that.”
Creating a new park is only the first step of a major multi-step plan to transform the downtown core, but most of the changes will come downriver if the Jaguars stadium renovation is approved.
Carrico said there is enough money around for the changes.
“This comes out of the capital improvement fund which is money that comes from the tax roles, 500 million a year roughly. So your parks, roadway, renovations, those kinds of things are paid for with capital improvement budget and it will be a lovely space when all is said and done.”
The construction that began on Monday is only phase one of a project which will cost roughly $25 million.
Lori Boyer, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority, said she expects that the project will be completed in a little more than a year.
“I think that the Public Works estimate on it is around 15 to 18 months,” Boyer said. “But that’s always subject to change, whether there’s weather delays or supply chain delays, you know, any of that kind of stuff. But at the moment, we’re looking forward to finally getting it out of the way.”
This first phase of construction does not include the park’s infamous ‘JAX’ sculpture. That design is still not final.
Construction will cause road closures in the area. Independent Drive is the only road closure that’s been announced, but more streets could close as construction continues.