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Southbank Riverwalk project still not done

Southbank Riverwalk (Action News)
(Action News)

Several years after the project first began, and several months after it opened, the Southbank Riverwalk in Downtown Jacksonville still needs more work.

The initial project was approved in 2010 and given a $15 million budget which, at that time, was going to cover the full overhaul. For various reasons, construction was held up until late 2013, when the City booted it back up. When the construction kicked up, however, the $15 million no longer covered the entire plan.

The City chose to move forward with a plan to fully reconstruct most of the Southbank span, but the budget would not have covered it all the way to the end. The City Council ultimately decided to put another $2 million in to fully complete the Riverwalk.

“Thank goodness that they had some money left over,” says Councilman John Crescimbeni.

WOKV has uncovered a new bill working through City Council which appropriates a little more than $112,000- which was left over from the most recent construction- to addressing an element of the project that was left out when the Riverwalk opened earlier this year.

Due to a legal agreement, the upland properties have certain rights when it comes to the redevelopment, including that they maintain the access they currently have. Some access from commercial property to the span was not restored in the project.

“Why that wasn’t built in to the original scope of the plan or the project is beyond me,” Crescimbeni says.

WOKV took the bill to Crescimbeni, who says he’s not surprised that there was money left over from the construction project because they had designated that as a contingency for needs like this. He says the initial estimates for the project were actually much higher, but the contractor eventually agreed to the remaining money so the City wouldn’t have to seek another allocation.

But that means nothing left in contingency, and Crescimbeni says that’s a little concerning.

“I have had some pretty harsh conversations with the Public Works staff about- is this it, are you sure this is it, nothing else is going to come forward, this completes the project,” he says.

Emails between Public Works, the Mayor’s Office and City Council detail the new construction, which deals with the river frontage portion of the Wyndham. The email says there is a vacant series of offices and shops near the Charthouse restaurant that previously had back doors with direct access to the previous Riverwalk, but don’t now. Concrete sidewalks and slope protection are proposed for the new construction. The email says they had issues resolving the needs of this property earlier because it has been in bankruptcy.

He feels comfortable that this will truly be the end to the project- at least until redevelopment in the adjacent property that was formerly owned by JEA takes place.

The Riverwalk redevelopment was spurred by the decaying prior structure. Portions of the span were roped off because the wood had degraded, and it was considered a liability. The new structure is all concrete and also includes improved lighting.

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