Summer 2019

was phenomenal, and it was wonderful to see
how strongly people are impacted by the written
and spoken word.
“We’ve really
gotten to a
good place,
but we still
have much
work to do
to change
perceptions.
There
are many
people who
still think
Downtown
and Hemming
Park are
dangerous,
that there is
nothing to do,
nothing to see
or no parking,
which is
absolutely
not true.”
Plans for the future
“We continue to work to make the park more
beautiful. That’s very important to me; Hemming
Park should be a place that is visually appealing to
all of our visitors. We are the front door to City Hall,
to treasures like MOCA and our magnificent Main
Library. It’s challenging — our design dates back
almost 50 years, and the park is due for more than
a facelift. It’s time to focus on that, with the help
of well qualified experts in landscape architecture
and park design. I hope that before I leave this
position the city government will approve funding
that will allow us to make Hemming Park the
world-class space that it should be. We need input
from people much more skilled than I am. What
elements should this park include? What events
and activities should we focus on? We constantly
hear from people who advocate primarily for more
grass; I was one of those people two years ago, but
now I’m not so sure. We need more green in the
park, but most successful small city squares are
paved, and for a good reason. City squares should
be active places, and grass is hard to maintain.
The Confederate memorial is a continuing topic of
conversation that needs to be addressed but that
will not easily be resolved. The ultimate decisions
about that rest with City Council and the Mayor’s
Office.
“Until we find the funding for a major park
restoration, we work hard with what we have.
When I started in late 2017, all the small beds
were empty, just dirt, and the city had no money
set aside for landscaping. I asked businesses
to become beautification sponsors so we could
plant flowers. That small change has made a huge
difference, and this year the city has been able to
fund some additional landscape improvements.
We have done several public art projects, including
a hands-on mosaic project with Roux Art during
last year’s Public Art Week. Next up is a significant
sculpture project with UNF that will be unveiled
in June and provides several UNF students an
opportunity to navigate the public art process and
create a large-scale sculpture, funded by Hemming
Park, that the students will own but will exhibit in
the park for a year.
“We continue to add weekday and weekend
programming. This year we started our Hemming
Park Walking Club, which provides a free onehour
walking tour at 11:30 on Tuesdays. Every
week we visit a different part of Downtown Jacksonville
that has historical significance or features
public art. We’ve visited the Clara White museum,
St. John’s Cathedral, the Morocco Temple, the Florida
Theatre and about a dozen other Downtown
spaces. We have at least 15 to 20 people who join
us regularly for these walks. We added yoga classes
on Sundays and a growing market, featuring produce
from Berry Good Farms, on the first, third
and fifth Tuesday of each month. These activities
are getting a tremendous positive response.
“Our staff is tiny, so we rely on partnerships
to do bigger events. We’re engaging with the
wonderful institutions located around the park;
we meet with the Library, MOCA and other
downtown stakeholders frequently to align our
programming so that we can leverage our resources.
We have found that, when we co-produce
or coordinate events, we have better attendance.
Families can visit Downtown and find enough
activities to entertain them for an entire day.
“We’ve really gotten to a good place, but we
still have much work to do to change perceptions.
There are many people who still think Downtown
and Hemming Park are dangerous, that there
is nothing to do, nothing to see or no parking,
which is absolutely not true. I can’t remember the
last time we had an incident in the park that was
particularly challenging from a safety perspective.
We have private security in the park from sun up
to sun down, seven days a week. We have programming
seven days a week and are surrounded
by interesting places. If you come to Hemming
Park, you can cross one street and gain access to a
world-class art museum, MOCA. You can admire
the incredible architecture of Henry Klutho’s St.
James Building, and visit one of the coolest candy
stores in the United States at Sweet Pete’s. MOSH
is a short Skyway ride away and the Main Library,
with its maker space and outstanding Florida collection,
is next door. It’s safe, it’s fun, and yes, it’s
pretty! And there is plenty of parking Downtown
— the library garage is one block away.
Emphasizing the positive
“I’m working at Hemming Park because I care
deeply about Downtown Jacksonville and how
Jacksonville is perceived by people from other
places. I see the tremendous potential in Jacksonville.
But I’m often frustrated. Somehow, in
spite of the efforts and good intentions of many,
we’ve done a really poor job of sharing all the good
things we have here with the rest of the world.
People don’t know about our history. They don’t
know about our natural and other assets.
“Our walking tours illustrate that. We have participants
who are visitors from other cities, other
countries, but also from other parts of Jacksonville.
Many had never been to MOCA before our
tour. They had never seen the Main Library’s map
collection; they had never been to a show at the
Florida Theatre. They had concerns about safety
or parking, but now, after walking with us twice a
week for the past four months, they’ve changed
their opinions. We need to create more of these
experiences for visitors.
“We should brand and promote our original,
historic Downtown. If you’re driving north on I-95,
the only sign that points you to Downtown says
‘Jacksonville Landing.’ The Landing will be gone
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J MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2019