New Businesses in Downtown:
•Sports Mania, a full-service sports merchandise and sports memorabilia store, recently opened its fifth store at The Jacksonville Landing. It is located at the west end of the property on the first floor across from Nine West. The hours of operation are 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. on Sundays. During football season, Sports Mania will open at 9 a.m. on ‘Jaguar Sundays.’
•There’s a new bar in Downtown! The Sinclair Jax recently opened at 521 W. Forsyth St. For more information, visit their Web site: http://www.thesinclairjax.com/.
•Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A., an active trial and litigation practice, opened a location at 333-1 E. Monroe St.
•The Visit Jacksonville office and Visitor Center, the city’s Convention & Visitors Bureau, moved to the Greenleaf Building at 208 North Laura St., Suite 102. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Two New Restaurants Opening in Downtown!
•Chicago Pizza plans to open its third restaurant at The Jacksonville Landing this September in the space once occupied by Ruby Tuesdays.
•Ron Sholes is turning the Sports Complex bar located at 234 A. Philip Randolph Blvd. into City Hall Pub, a new, everyday Downtown restaurant and sports bar “where Jacksonville sports, entertainment and history meet.”
North Florida Shipyards Inc.
•North Florida Shipyards Inc., located on Talleyrand, will use federal stimulus money to purchase new equipment and a 600-ton crane to lift boats. The company will receive about $319,000 of the $17.1 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration. The company is also working with the JEDC to utilize federal Recovery Zone Bonds to provide supplementary financing for the new equipment which is expected to add 246 new jobs in Jacksonville.
Ambassador Lofts Apartments
•Plans to renovate the Ambassador, a historic hotel located at the corner of Church and Julia streets, are underway. The conceptual plan of the 85-year old building includes converting the 80 existing hotel rooms into 50 high-end residential units, which will be named the Ambassador Lofts Apartments. The proposed plan received conceptual approval from the Downtown Development Review Board (DDRB).
Update to Downtown Action Plan Item #7: Improve Wayfarer Signage
•Directional kiosks are going to be installed on Laura Street as part of the Laura Street Streetscaping Project. The kiosks will help achieve one of the Downtown Action Plan goals of improving wayfarer signage in Downtown.
Attention Arts and Social Services Supporters!
•The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville has launched a new Web site to capture responses from supporters of arts and social services programs in Jacksonville. Click here to participate in the survey. It only takes about one minute.
The Jaguars are back!
•The NFL comes back to Downtown Jacksonville for another exciting year. Click here to view the 2009 Jaguars football schedule.
•Speaking of the Jaguars, the Jaguars Foundation awarded $712,750 in grants in the first part of 2009 to 24 deserving local nonprofit organizations serving disadvantaged children and families.
Jaguars Rewards Program
•The Jacksonville Jaguars are offering free advertising to local businesses to help increase profits. All that is required is a valuable offer for Jaguars Season Ticketholders. Your offer will be featured on the jaguars.com Web site along with your company logo. Click here to register.
According to DVI’s Mid-Year Update…
•…DVI produced 34 events in the first half of 2009 that brought 27,100 visitors to Downtown.
•…More than 7,000 pounds of litter have been removed from Downtown sidewalks so far this year.
•…More than 175 hours of volunteer labor were leveraged for Downtown clean-ups and special projects.
•Click here to view the full report.
Upcoming Events:
•Every Friday the Clara White Mission, located at 613 West Ashley St., will host “Clara’s Jazz and Old School Catering to the Mature Crowd” from 6 p.m. to midnight. A $10 donation includes hors’ devours from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., dancing, music mixed by “DJ Ultimate” and prize drawings. To RSVP, call (904) 354-4162 or email sperry@clarawhitemission.org. All donations support the Clara White Mission Programs.
•On Sunday, September 13, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s 2009 Southern Oak Insurance Company Tailgate – Kick Off to a Cure fundraising event will take place in the Terrace Suite at the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. Restaurants will be on hand serving food and tailgate guests will watch the NFL game airing from the Colts’ Lucas Oil Field on big screen TVs donated from Best Buy. Supporters can also shop the silent and live auctions. Sponsorships for the event range from $7,500 to $750. Individual reservations are $110. For more information or for tickets to the event, contact the North Florida office of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at (904) 733-3560 or visit http://www.cff.org/.
•Click on the links below for more Downtown events:
The Jacksonville Landing
Make a Scene Downtown!
DVI
ExperienceJax.com
