Downtown Waterfront
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Downtown Waterfront Revitalization
Jacksonville, North Carolina

Late last summer a master plan was completed for a revitalization effort in downtown Jacksonville, North Carolina. The project will involve a major transformation of the Jacksonville commercial district streetscape. Old buildings will be torn down and new ones will be constructed in order to facilitate the area’s resurgence as the city’s business and commerce center.

Jackson Street Before

Before:
Court Street in Jacksonville, NC, at it looks today.

Jackson Street After

After:  The redevelopment plan for Court Street in Jacksonville, NC proposes new buildings similar in mass and height,to the existing historic buildings.The plans state that the key to success will be insistence on adhering to design guidelines that ensure harmonious
architecture and siting over an extended period of time.

The story of Jacksonville’s deterioration goes back to the Vietnam era. The city is home to Camp Lejeune, one of the major U.S. Marine Corps training facilities during the war. Topless bars, strip clubs and other undesirable elements began to spring up in order to accommodate the growing soldier population in the area. The downtown became severely depressed as a result of small business moving their shops to the outskirts of town.

Two and a half years ago, Rosie Candelin was hired as the executive director of Jacksonville’s B.O.L.D. (Bettering Our Local Downtown). One of the very first measures taken to get the revitalization process moving was the hiring of Allison Platt & Associates, a Baltimore, Maryland company specializing in landscape architecture and urban design, in November of 1997. A plan was devised that was adopted unanimously by both municipal and county representatives.

The first step taken was to create two central downtown commercial and governmental districts and new offices to go with them. As a result, new quarters for the local chamber of commerce are being built in order to keep all policymakers within close proximity to each other.

 

Jackson River Before

Before:
the Jacksonville, NC downtown waterfront, as it exists

  

         Jackson River After
After:  the Jacksonville, NC downtown waterfront, as it could look according to a proposed redevelopment plan.
Members of the comminute stared in meetings that the downtown should have a presence on the riverfront with active
recreational and commercial uses.

One of the main efforts at this point is to develop Jacksonville’s New River waterfront property, directly across from the county jail, into an attractive destination area where families can take advantage of the scenic waterfront. This spot on the New River is actually the last undeveloped waterfront in all of Eastern Carolina. B.O.L.D. plans to design a new streetscape for the area that will feature shops, restaurants, residential town homes and boat slips. Proposals are being considered for a variety of projects in downtown Jacksonville. B.O.L.D. expects the process to continue for the next 24-36 months.

For more information, contact Rosie Candelin of B.O.L.D., 910-937-7222, or Allison Platt of Allison Platt & Associates,        410-426-7164; homepage: www.aplattassociates.com.