This article is the first in a series of articles that will chronicle my experiences filming my hometown of Jacksonville for History Jacksonville.
In December of 1997 I had returned home at the end of my first semester of graduate school at Florida State University. I was within days of leaving Jacksonville by Amtrak to spend several days alone visiting New York City. For some reason, I was drawn to visiting Downtown even though my previous visits were only with my father to the Jacksonville Landing, the Riverfront, or to the Hayden Burns Library. It may have been the opening of the new City Hall in the St. James Building that peaked my interest. One night I drove my 1995 Aztec red Nissan pick up truck into town, parallel parked on Laura Street and walked into Hemming Plaza lit up by the Christmas lights in the trees. I was there for several minutes when I was approached by a security guard and talked with him about Downtown-the revitalization that was happening and the new City Hall.
The next day I had time to spare and was interested in seeing more of the city. One of the reasons was that I would be in New York City and I felt it would be a good opportunity for me to get more acquainted with urban life and perils on a smaller scale. Once again I was back at Hemming Plaza. The automated PA system was being tested on the new Hemming Plaza station of the new leg of the skyway system. Tiring of hearing the repetition, I wondered down Duval Street-crossed Julia Street, made a right turn and walked past the open door of the Ambassador Hotel. I saw a woman in the lobby talking to a man behind a desk. As I passed I heard other people talking looked down into one of the ground level windows and saw people playing a game of pool. I found out ten years later that at that time it was only months from being condemned and closed. I began to walk into the LaVilla neighborhood I noticed fewer people than I expected. Curious about the Ritz Theatre which I knew was going to be part of The River City Renaissance plan I walked down Davis Street. When I got there I could see construction across the street of what ultimately became the Urban League building. I looked into the dusty windows of the old Ritz Theatre building and didn’t seem much except old bottles and a painted picture of a hamburger. From the distance I could hear a gas station employee shouting into an intercom at a customer.
Many years passed. I earned my graduate degree in Public Administration in 1999. I worked in state government in Tallahassee. Then I moved to Orlando where I worked briefly at a global HR firm. 9/11 happened and I decided to try teaching, then went to work at AT&T. In August 2005 I returned to Jacksonville to live after my father died. I lost my stepbrother 2 years later. It took years for the turmoil and angst to subside right on time for the life changing year of 2011. On January 1, 2011 I began filming weekly talks from my living room on YouTube I did a brief talk the Summer of 2011 by Friendship Fountain. However without Occupy Wall Street – The Left Turn Network as we know it now would never have happened. Occupying the front sidewalk of City Hall inspired me to learn more about our city. Why was I walking past so many vacant buildings on the way to and from my car? And what were they? With several friends from Occupy I began to broadcast talks about politics and history & film about Downtown.
Flash forward to the morning of November 29, 2014. I had planned to film LaVilla several weeks prior. This time I was going to be alone- like that December day in 1997. A fire that destroyed the Old Davis Furniture warehouse required me to divert from my usual route down Forsyth Street. The 105 year old building had a minor role in my November 2013 film about the neighborhood around the new Courthouse.
Here is the inside scoop on The LaVilla History Jacksonville episode. I filmed the beginning of the episode (front of the Ritz Theatre) towards the end of my filming & my commentary at the end (at the end of course).
The first segment that I filmed was of Old Stanton High School. I did multiple takes. In the course of it-only 1 person walked by. The feeling that I got was that it was almost like I was the only person in the area which was reminiscent of that day in 1997.
I marveled at the few houses that were still standing-most in poor condition. It was then that I realized something that had perplexed me. I was in an urban area devoid of people (unlike my previous sessions throughout downtown and the city at large). The only thing that kept it from being a Twilight Zone episode were the motorists on the North-South streets-some of them confused as the blockades around the fire were causing them to scramble making sharp turns as they tried to find their way to their destinations further East & the folks hanging out in the park across from The Ritz.
I realized that this episode was more about what became of LaVilla in the 1990s than at any point in history.
Does urban renewal as it is practiced in Jacksonville work?
Sadly I have determined No. More on That Later…
Thanks for taking the time to read this. The best is yet to come, History Jacksonville is really taking off as I explore more and more. Interested in joining me for several hours of a month to film and write? Then please consider joining the Left Turn Production Group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/537505052943780/
George Farrar-November 30, 2014