Duval County

The Berkman II is gone, but 3 months later the rubble remains. When you can expect it to be cleared

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Plans for The Shipyards could be solidified as soon as the end of this week.

But some neighbors are hoping the city doesn’t forget about the unfinished project down the street—The Berkman Plaza II.

It was imploded in March, but some of the rubble still remains.

Action News Jax’s Courtney Cole showed us what the site looks like right now and went to the district’s City Councilman, Reggie Gaffney, for answers about the clean-up.

What goes up, must come down.

Well, at least according to well-known mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton.

But now that the Berkman II is down, neighbors want to know when it will be gone... for good.

“Well, I think it was an eyesore. [I] walk by it all the time... sat here forever... ever and a day,” said Johnny Moore, a Jacksonville resident.

“Jacksonville is such a beautiful city, particularly the River Walk part. So to come up on rubble... like that... was surprising to me!” exclaimed Maxine Bryant, a regular visitor to The River City.

The Berkman II was imploded on March 6, after sitting along Jacksonville’s riverfront for more than a decade.

“I get phone calls every day, every day. ‘Councilman Gaffney, you said 90 days,’ and when is the end? ‘I passed by there, you still have quite a bit of debris right there and concrete there,’” Gaffney told Cole.

Councilman Reggie Gaffney, of District 7, said there are different variables holding up progress—including weather and crews affected by COVID-19.

“We anticipate all of this being removed in 3 weeks. Now—that’s a very aggressive date, but that’s the date they’ve been given by the contractors...that’s when all of this will be gone,” Gaffney said.

As for what will go there next:

“Then we will start to look at the second phase, how to move forward. And we’ve got about 2 or 3 proposals we will talk about at the appropriate time,” the councilman said.

The people Action News Jax spoke to today had their own ideas about what should go in the space, including a park, skateboard arena, or some type of garden.

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