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#AskJAXTDY | Is the city fixing the smashed fence at Memorial Park?

A new support wall was being laid Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, at Memorial Park. The metal fence damaged in a vehicle crash remained to be fixed. (Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today)

Editors Note: This post appears under a partnership between News4JAX & Jacksonville Today. Never miss an answer. Sign up for the free Jacksonville Today newsletter.

Q: Jacksonville Today reader Stacy K. asks about a damaged fence at Memorial Park on the curve of Riverside Avenue.

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A vehicle apparently crashed into the fence recently, bending back some of the metal fencing and damaging the wall under it.

“Any plans for the Parks Dept. to fix the damage done to the Memorial Park fence wall?”

A: City Hall spokesperson Phillip Perry confirms to Jacksonville Today that indeed “a car hit this section of the wall again.”

He passes along an email from Daryl Joseph, the city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services director, who says the city is “moving through the procurement process to have the wall repaired. We expect the work to be completed by the fall of this year.”

A check on Friday showed the work is already underway.

Work continues to repair a fence and wall damaged on the Riverside Avenue edge of Memorial Park after a car crashed into it (Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today)

While we had City Hall’s ear, Jacksonville Today asked for an update about another issue at Memorial Park: the damaged balustrades along the river.

Hurricane Idalia’s winds and waves blasted the sculpted balustrades just about a year ago — destroying the same balustrades the city had repaired after Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Perry says that the latest repair project is “currently moving through design and has been assigned to our design-build contractor.”

“We have provided them the design criteria package, and we expect to receive their proposal in the coming weeks to move forward,” Perry says. “We do not have a project ETA yet, but should know more on that after receiving the proposal.”

Hurricane Idalia smashed the balustrades at Memorial Park in August 2023, and the damage was still evident after Tropical Storm Debby came through Jacksonville on Aug. 5 this year. (Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today)

It took four years to replace the balustrade after Hurricane Irma, but the Memorial Park Association hopes the 2023 damage can be repaired in time for events to celebrate the centennial of the historic park.

Opened in 1924 as Florida’s World War One Memorial, it is home to the Spiritualized Life sculpture and honors more than 1,220 Floridians who died in the first World War.

Curious about something in Jax? Email your question to news@jaxtoday.org, and a Jacksonville Today reporter might answer it in a future story. Just put #ASKJAXTDY in the subject line. This post appears under a partnership with Jacksonville Today. Never miss an answer. Sign up for the free Jacksonville Today newsletter.


About the Author

Dan Scanlan is a veteran journalist with almost 40 years of experience in radio, television, and print reporting. He has worked at various stations in the Northeast and Jacksonville. Prior to joining the WJCT News team, Dan spent 34 years at The Florida Times-Union as a police and current affairs reporter.

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