Naval museum for the Southbank?

[RockStar]

Just get it done. This is a NAVY town and I think we deserve/should support something like this. Besides, would be pretty cool to cross over the Main street bridge and see a warship parked on the river...maybe we could use the cannons to blow some holes in the Landing to open it up to Laura street...j/k take it easy people...unless you agree, in which case I'm not kidding...lol.

[Captain Zissou]

Just get it done. This is a NAVY town and I think we deserve/should support something like this. Besides, would be pretty cool to cross over the Main street bridge and see a warship parked on the river...maybe we could use the cannons to blow some holes in the Landing to open it up to Laura street...j/k take it easy people...unless you agree, in which case I'm not kidding...lol.

+1.  This would be a great addition to the city and downtown.  The Navy directly or indirectly employs 5% of our city.  A naval attraction deserves to be part of our downtown.  I too am skeptical of the numbers they presented, but if this is the only Naval attraction in FL or GA, it could have a strong regional draw.

[Wacca Pilatka]

For what it's worth, the Battleship Wisconsin vastly increased the Norfolk maritime museum's drawing power once it was berthed next door.  Caveats being that we're talking about a larger ship and a larger museum that advertises regionally.

[Doctor_K]

Not sure about Metro Park either.

How about utilizing the School Board building area?

[subro]

I would love to see a Navy ship berthed downtown. This ship will need some restoration (mostly exterior) prior to being put on display.

http://www.adamsclassmuseum.org/Documents/Ship_Visit_May_18_2010.pdf

(Large pdf, slow to load)

[Jordan T]

Not sure about Metro Park either.

I think the South-bank around the foot of the Acosta is a perfect location...... It's still in the "COREish" vicinity of the city and the traffic foot or vehicle is much greater there (because San Marco mainly) than Metro Park. Even though Metro park is just great but mainly for open air events..... Maybe if the Sky way reached that far it would work.... but that's just my opinion

[tufsu1]

did anyone notice this part?

Toward that end, the association operates the Adams Class Naval Ship Museum at the Landing that includes displays of artifacts salvaged from the Adams and a selection of military souvenirs. It’s staffed by officers and sailors who served on the Adams and other guided missile destroyers of its time who are able to answer questions and provide their own living history.
“The store is doing very well. We have at least 100 visitors on Saturdays,” said JHNSA board member Wayne Misenar, who served for four years aboard the Adams as its electronics materiel officer.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2010-07-16
[/quote]

[aj_fresh]

Not for nothing, this city should be going after the USS John F. Kennedy. That aircraft carrier would look beautiful on either side of the river.

USS Intrepid

The Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum is a military and maritime history museum with a collection of museum ships in New York City. It is located at Pier 86 at 46th Street on the West Side of Manhattan. The museum showcases the World War II aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, the submarine USS Growler, a Concorde SST and a Lockheed A-12 supersonic reconnaissance plane. The museum serves as a hub for the annual Fleet Week events. Visiting warships dock at the cruise ship terminals to the north, and events are held on the museum grounds and the deck of the Intrepid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrepid_Sea-Air-Space_Museum

[Timkin]

I like the idea.. How about Exchange Island with a River Ferry from Southbank  

[Charles Hunter]

Don't think you could park a carrier under the Mathews Bridge. For that matter,  or get one underneath it, and the Hart, to bring the JFK downtown.  What about bringing the Adams to one of the piers at the old shipyards site - plenty of parking, a nice walk down the Northbank Riverwalk to hotels and the Landing - and eventually, the MJ Convention Center would be right next door.  Despite their assertions, I think parking next to River City Brewing and MOSH would be a problem.

[Timkin]

 I thought the thread began with the idea of getting a much smaller Ship (not an Aircraft Carrier) sorry. Guess on this site if you are not part of the click , it doesnt count, as I discover in many of the other postings.

 A Naval Museum would be nice.  But this town cannot even infill its Urban Core.  Too damn busy tearing everything that ever was beautiful down.  IMO  don't hold your breath about this happening.. or anything else very positive for Jax..  This town really belongs to the select click.   

[Noone]

I support the USS Adams coming to Downtown if it will pay for itself and not turn into a taxpayer subsidized decomissioned mothball sized aircraft money pit for the people of Jacksonville.

We are a Navy town.

We are a football town that is in a real scenario of losing an NFL franchise for one reason (ticket sales) 

The Navy is giving them the ship. The city is giving them a location to dock the ship.

At a recent Jacksonville Waterways Commission meeting they were asked how much of the $5,000,000 required to make this happen have they raised. $100,000 was the figure thrown around. If anyone has an updated figure lets hear it. Don't get me wrong I hope they raise $10,000,000

Other concerns, Will the sedimentation patterns have any impact on the existing boat ramp?

The timing of the ord is key. Election cycle who is going to say NO to the Navy when running for political office.
Also there are a number of new appointments to Waterways and one of the first big pieces of legislation will be this benefit for Downtown. Who is going to vote NO for a waterway activity that will bring people to Downtown.

Who is building the new dock?

What is the exit strategy if it doesn't work. And the cost to have it removed if it comes to that.
Does anybody besides the taxpayers have any skin in the game?

Remember Shipyards. We gave them the money upfront and look what happened.
Remember the Equestrian Center in the BJP. That group was supposed to raise and have $5,000,000 too. How much of that has been returned to taxpayers?

The positives is the redo of the Friendship fountain area a lot of what is happening has come from the JCCI River Dance study and the report for Downtown Vision by Chan Kreiger and Associates. There will be an increase in overall activity but will it be enough for it to succeed financially on its own.

Remember Harbormasters?
Will we be saying remember the Adams?


 

[I-10east]

Operation "S.A.D." At all cost by any means necessary, Jax MUST have Streetcar, an Aquarium, and a Decommissioned ship. Might as well make glue out of this horse, because it has been beaten to death.

[Timkin]

I am not personally for an Aquarium.  I am for other points of interest in Downtown besides Nightclubs, Restaurants, and the Landing.   We also DO NEED alternative forms of transportation besides the bus. This isnt Mayberry.

[Fallen Buckeye]

It's a cool idea, but I don't know about the 93,000 a year number.  It takes a whole lotta maintneance to keep something like that afloat also.  Metro park might be a better location for it though.

Southbank is a better location for sure. First of all, it creates a nice little museum cluster in with MOSH and the Maritime Museum right there. I could see a beneficial partnership develop in the future where MOSH and the ship might offer passes that give you access to both and so on. Also, there's better visibility on in the Southbank location because it's closer to major roadways and attractions.

As far as parking is concerned there is a round-about there that leads no where. That part of the street could be reconfigured to allow for additional parking. I'd rather see that done honestly then see them redo the area around Friendship Fountain (except for fixing the pumps would be nice).