Empty warehouse brings color to Eastside with new street market

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An empty warehouse on Talleyrand Avenue is covered in graffiti art. The building’s new owner now looks to bring color to the underdeveloped neighborhood with a new street market inside.

Ron Armstrong, the owner, said it will provide a safe space for kids and families.

“The next generation matters. We’re facing the world today where there’s so much violence. There’s so many dark areas that nobody wants to take an eye to,” he told Action News Jax’s Robert Grant. “We want to put a stamp on the Talleyrand area. We want people to realize that if there’s an event on a Saturday or Sunday, this is a safe place for them and their children and their families to come.”

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The first event is Saturday, but the space is already making a difference in the life of Dina Menefee. She works at the pizza parlor inside the warehouse called Toon Town. It’s the first legal, fulltime job she’s had in 18 years after she led a life of drugs and crime.

Menefee said she was hooked on heroin and meth. Now, she’s 18 months sober and Armstrong gave her a second chance at life with the new job.

Action News Jax asked what she saw in the 38,000-square-foot empty space.

“I see hope. I see a future. I see other people doing the same thing,” she said.

Armstrong said he hopes rejuvenating the area can help prevent the crime Menefee found herself tangled in and continue the growth in downtown Jacksonville.

“Just make this area known. It’s kind of been a dying area — and so local vendors in this area want to do stuff in their backyard,” J.T. Rhodes, an event coordinator said.

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This weekend, Toon Town is hosting a street market with about 40 vendors including food trucks, art, and live music. It’s the first event of its kind in the neighborhood and Rhodes said they hope to make it a monthly tradition.

The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 pm. on Saturday. The warehouse is at 444 Talleyrand Avenue.

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