JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The city of Jacksonville said work will soon begin to repair the damaged concrete balustrades at Memorial Park.
The structures separating the Riverside park and the St. Johns River were first damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017. But they were hit again by multiple storms, including Hurricane Nicole in 2022 and Hurricane Idalia in 2023.
MORE: Memorial Park underwater as parts of Riverside, Avondale and Ortega flood during Nicole
The balustrades form a wall going several yards. The damage from past storms has left multiple exposed screws and missing pillars in multiple sections. Theresa Tearney is a regular at Memorial Park and noticed the damage months ago.
“We bring my mom down here a lot, so you know, having that all blocked off right there, we can’t get by the water anymore,” Tearney said. “But having it like that also just, it’s like a danger.”
Tearney said she even called the city of Jacksonville about this as recently as two weeks ago.
“We actually asked them, ‘When is it going to be fixed so it’s safe again for everybody to come down again?’ And they just kept telling us, we’re waiting for paperwork to go through,” Tearney said.
The city confirmed to News4JAX the process to start the work is ramping up. The city said the project is moving through the design phase.
“It has been assigned to our design-build contractor,” a city spokesperson told News4JAX. “We have provided them the design criteria package.”
The city said the proposal is expected over the next week. In the meantime, a long row of plastic barriers is in place to serve as a barricade between the park and the exposed sections next to the water.
Considering how much the concrete wall has gone through over the years, and even this week with Tropical Storm Debby, park visitors like Leslie Nesbit and Charles Lykes hope the work can get started as soon as possible. Nesbit is concerned the damage could get worse if another big storm rolls through.
“It could be a hazard if things wore away in a storm or whatever,” Nesbit said.
“It’s not just here, it’s all of Florida has problems with these storms, and we’re not really ready for it,” Lykes added.
Tearney is just ready to see this important part of the park back the way it should be. For everybody to enjoy.
“That’s a real good thing. So, we can all come back down to the park again,” Tearney said. “I bring my two little dogs down here, and I can’t wait until they can start running again.”
The city confirms this work is being coordinated as a FEMA-reimbursed project.
