JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Six new parks are planned for Jacksonville’s downtown area.
You can get a look into the future and see how these projects will look after the city released the renderings and designs for the parks.
Bringing people back to downtown is one of the main goals behind the six new parks planned for the area.
Lauren Banks has worked along the St John’s River for years. She says the empty lawn at the Riverfront Plaza was once a popular spot for downtown employees.
“I worked on this side a couple of years ago, I’d come down to lunch at the landing, but that’s obviously gone now," said Banks.
The new parks are exciting news to some residents who feel the riverfront is an underutilized resource.
“The river is so beautiful and wonderful, and I think we’re not taking advantage of that. I love our downtown, and it would be nice to see people living here and thriving," said Ron Nepa, who frequently runs along the riverbank..
Scroll down to see images of future designs below.
However, after years of projects like the Friendship Fountain still under construction, some residents are skeptical of the big plans.
“How long has it taken them to rebuild the boat docks along the Northbank, its been a while and then on the Southbank it’s been a long time with friendship fountain. So I don’t know, I’ve got hesitation on if this is actually going to happen in a timely manner," Banks said.
Build Up Downtown is an organization that has worked on some of the designs.
"These projects are already through the approval process from the development side, they have funding, many of them have already broken ground or are scheduled to do so here in the next 6 to 8 months. So at this time there's no turning back. It just really is different now," said Laura Phillips Edgecombe, the director of development for Build Up Downtown.
We will see developments at two of the most anticipated parks. The Friendship Fountain is scheduled to open end of April while construction for the parks in that area should end by 2024.
Construction on the Riverfront Plaza will begin after the Jazz Festival this May and is scheduled to be completed Sep. 30, 2025.
Friendship Fountain
RiversEdge Park
The Artist Walk
Music Heritage Garden
Shipyards West Park
Riverfront Plaza
