The last
time downtown Jacksonville rang up a billion-dollar decade, Jake
Godbold was mayor, throwing the full weight of the office behind his
campaign for downtown revival in the 1980s.
"It was a very hard sell," Godbold recalled. "People would say,
'All he does is talk about downtown.' But I had to. It can't be like
it was in the '50s. Downtown's either going to deteriorate and fall
apart, or else it's going to move forward, but it's not going to
stay the same."
In coming months, Mayor John Delaney will seek to sell his own
plan for downtown development. If voters support a referendum for a
half-cent sales tax increase, it could set the stage for downtown's
second billion-dollar decade, based on a combination of public and
private spending.
But to make the case, Delaney will have to convince voters spread
across 840 square miles, the largest city in the United States
outside of Alaska. It's been that way since Duval County voters
decided in 1968 to create a consolidated city-county government, one
of the few anywhere in the country.
That large land mass "definitely makes it more difficult" for
mayors to focus on downtown, said Godbold, who served as mayor from
1979 to 1987.
"There are a lot of advantages to consolidated government,"
Godbold said. "But trying to concentrate on downtown is not one of
them."
"You have to make sure that you're addressing the needs
everywhere and that you're not siphoning dollars from other projects
in Mandarin or the Northside or the Southside for the sake of
putting it into downtown where, frankly, there isn't a lot of
constituency," said Tommy Hazouri, who was mayor from 1987 to 1991.
"I think it makes it somewhat more difficult," said Ed Austin,
who was mayor from 1991 to 1995.
In cities with smaller land masses, City Halls enjoy the benefit
of the large tax base provided by downtowns without facing the
demand for extending public services to the more far-flung suburbs,
Austin said. But the fact that Jacksonville has a countywide tax
base can work to downtown's advantage if there is public support for
downtown, Austin said.
"Once you get it focused, I think you bring the resources of the
whole community to bear," Austin said.
And in Jacksonville's strong-mayor form of government, the mayors
have played the key role in determining how much taxpayer investment
goes into downtown.
Projects during Godbold's tenure included the Prime Osborn
Convention Center, The Jacksonville Landing, Metro Park and the
Southbank Riverwalk. He also created the Downtown Development
Authority. Private investment followed, with the construction of a
half dozen tall office towers that have given downtown its
contemporary look.
The pace slowed under Hazouri. During his tenure, the city
decided to tear down the old Blodgett Homes public housing complex
on the edge of downtown, making room for new state government
buildings.
But a $500 million development plan for the riverfront, submitted
by Wilma Southeast Inc., unraveled because Hazouri did not want to
commit City Hall to paying the full $55 million cost for extending
the Skyway monorail to the Alltel Stadium sports complex. Wilma
Southeast insisted the Skyway extension was needed for its project
to succeed.
Austin brought another wave of taxpayer investment to downtown
with the $220 million River City Renaissance program. The downtown
portion of that included demolishing slum-like buildings in the
LaVilla neighborhood on the edge of downtown, renovating what became
the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts, building Alltel
Stadium, and restoring the St. James Building as a new home for City
Hall.
Delaney would continue that with his spending proposal, called
The Better Jacksonville Plan. If voters OK a half-cent sales tax
increase, the downtown component of the plan contains $435 million
for construction of a new courthouse, arena, main library and
baseball park.
That would come on top of some other large-scale downtown
projects that are already under way in downtown -- an $86 million
federal courthouse, $125 million Adam's Mark hotel, $37 million
Berkman Plaza apartment tower and condominiums, the $8 million The
Parks at the Cathedral townhomes, and a $22 million performing arts
middle school.
If a county courthouse were built at a site off the riverfront,
the current location could spawn more private investment.
Possibilities so far include a $300 million, 44-story building, but
nothing has moved beyond the talking stage to a specific proposal.
For Delaney, the main selling point in his pitch for downtown is
growth management. He argues that suburban dwellers gain when
downtown residential housing grows because "for every thousand
people we have downtown, it's a thousand fewer cars in the suburbs."
"It fits together in a grander scheme of taking care of downtown,
making downtown a nicer place, which ultimately, I believe, will
lead to higher density in the downtown, shorter travel times and
better growth management," Delaney said.
Like Austin, Delaney said having a consolidated government brings
more resources into the picture if there is a consensus for downtown
development.
"But you certainly have to focus on neighborhoods in all parts of
the city," Delaney said.
Given those widespread demands for public attention, it all boils
down to what priority a mayor gives to downtown, Godbold said.
"This is a strong-mayor city," Godbold said. "As the mayor goes,
so goes the whole city."
