JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The city of Jacksonville gave a presentation Wednesday for updates on dozens of public projects throughout every neighborhood downtown.
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Those projects ranged from improving parks, expanding the Riverwalk, and converting one-way streets into two-way streets.
Laurie Boyer, CEO of the Downtown Investment Authority said she wants to see downtown thrive.
“I want it to be thriving both from a vibrant place for people to enjoy recreation to come to dine for people who live here, to provide enough housing that there’s real opportunities for people to live in downtown, but I also want it to be successful commercially,” Boyer said.
City leaders point to the recent reopening of Friendship Fountain as a way to bring people downtown, and even outside of showtimes you can see there are plenty of people visiting the recently renovated fountain.
Antoine Mickle and Tamara Pulliam visited Friendship Fountain following a date night Wednesday. Pulliam said she’d like to have the option to enjoy downtown without always needing a car to get around.
“Anything to do with being outdoors, being able to explore that but also having shops around, being outdoors, walkable areas like access to shops but also walkable exercise areas,” Pulliam said.
During the meeting Mayor Donna Deegan said there’s a sense of urgency to get projects done in downtown.
“We want this to be the heartbeat of our city but we also see that it can be a way that we can invest in the rest of our city which is also very important,” Deegan said.
Deegan also said the ‘Stadium of the Future’ negotiations are moving along at the pace the city wants and she hopes to have something to give to council by Spring.
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