This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Arlington or Avondale? Which part of Jacksonville has the most allure and appeal?

In our episode of This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition, we’re diving into a new effort by Scenic Jacksonville, an advocacy organization dedicated to improving the scenic beauty and character of Jacksonville, to showcase the potential and opportunity in Arlington.

Our guests are Michael Kirwan, board president of Scenic Jacksonville and Steve Matchett, director of Old Arlington Inc. a neighborhood association focused on Arlington’s history, economic development, and neighborhood revitalization.

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Scenic Visions is the new program getting underway.

“It’s an outgrowth of our great cities symposium,” Kirwin said. “We’ve been bringing in speakers from around the country to talk about what other cities are doing and what we can do as well here in Jacksonville. So what we’re doing now is we’re coming up with a program to really focus on different parts of our community, highlight what’s happening in those parts of our community, and have discussions about how can we enhance the quality of life in those areas.”

Scenic Visions wants to “rediscover hidden gems outside the urban core while promoting neighborhood improvement and opportunities to engage the community in meaningful discussions.”

A key question for the effort: Why Arlington?

“Things are happening in Arlington now, and that’s after years of decline,” Matchett said. “Of course, we were once the boom area of Jacksonville, years of decline. Now there’s a lot of good forces at work for revitalization. The mid-century modern has become historically historic preservation today, so a lot of good bones in Arlington.”

There are three key facets of the Scenic Visions program.

• March 23 – Boat Tour “Spotlight on Arlington’s Riverfront”

• April 20 – Trolley Tour “Spotlight on the Arlington Neighborhood”

• May 29 – Panel Discussion at Jacksonville University – “Spotlight on Arlington’s Future” to be moderated by Joyce Morgan and include panelists Tim Cost, Steve Matchett, and others.

A newspaper article in December posted the headline: “Arlington poised to become the next Riverside Avondale?”

Matchett is grateful the question is even being asked.

“It blew me away, Kent, it really did,” Matchett said. “That was following a successful effort with the city council in preserving the Arlington Federal Savings and Loan Building, which is one of the most iconic examples of mid-century modern architecture in Arlington,” Matchett said. “That’s a big asset going for us. Arlington has the best and largest collection of mid-century modern in Jacksonville, and this architecture is now over 50 years old. It’s become historic in my lifetime, too. And so now with that preservation effort culminated with success at the city council level so far.”