TUESDAY
January 22, 2019
Public legal notices begin on page 4
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Daily Record THEDaily AFTERMATH Record JACKSONVILLE
DEVELOPMENT
JACKSONVILLE
City Hall veterans see opportunity
The building is gone and the old courthouse is being demolished.
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JACKSONVILLE
Blackstone Building damaged by implosion of old City Hall Metal debris broke windows and damaged offices. BY MAX MARBUT ASSOCIATE EDITOR
The impact of the implosion of the old City Hall on Sunday morning was felt across East Bay Street when several windows were broken on the south side of the Blackstone Building. The sidewalk in front of the building
will remain closed to pedestrians for safety reasons until the windows are replaced, said building manager Larry Brake. A crew from Lee & Cates Glass was seen inspecting the building soon after the implosion, but there’s no timeline for window replacement, Brake said. The glass was custom-manufactured for the building and not readily available. SEE BLACKSTONE, PAGE 3
Photos by Max Marbut
Some windows were broken at the Blackstone Building at 233 E. Bay St. Sunday morning when the old City Hall across the street was imploded. Above: The broken windows will be covered with plywood until custom glass replacements can be fabricated and installed.
BY DAVID CAWTON ASSOCIATE EDITOR
As Jacksonville’s former City Hall crashed down Sunday morning, those who worked in the building over the decades found themselves at peace. City Council Vice President Scott Wilson is one of Jacksonville’s longest-tenured public servants, having come up through the ranks of the consolidated government for three decades. “I’ve got a lot of good memories from my time over there,” Wilson said a few minutes before the controlled detonation. He joined about 300 other city and business leaders Sunday morning to witness the implosion at The River Club on the top two floors of the 35-story Wells Fargo Center in an event organized by Perry-McCall Construction Inc. About 8 a.m., Environmental Holdings Group and Controlled Demolition Inc. detonated dynamite charges placed throughout the old 15-story City Hall building at 220 E. Bay St. About 10 seconds later, a cloud of dust and a pile of rubble remained. Wilson said old the City Hall, which opened in 1960, had charm in its heyday. “I always thought the balcony outside the City Council chambers on the 15th floor was one of the great parts of that building,” Wilson said. “It had these old, really strong wooden doors and a lot of design elements from that era.” Wilson’s first city job was in the public parking division in 1988. “My office was in room 104,” he said. By February 1994, he moved to SEE CITY HALL, PAGE 3
New River City shopping center approved The city issued a permit for Ashco Inc. to build the River City Market Place retail building at 725 Skymarks Drive in the River City Marketplace shopping center. Ashco is the contractor for the $1 million, 22,000-square-foot building. An ashcoinc.net rendering shows La Nopalera restaurant, Bellezza Nails Spa, at least one more tenant and a medical facility. A Mayday ice cream shop is shown in front.
VOLUME 106, NO. 46 • ONE SECTION