The city of Jacksonville is making progress on plans to revitalize Mayport Village.
A contract for a master plan for the area was awarded to The Haskell Company in December.
Plans for the 7-acre stretch between the restaurant Singleton’s and the restaurant Safe Harbor include new docks, stores, restaurants and a seafood-processing plant.
The main anchor is OCEARCH and its shark research facility.
Dr. Quint White said a company is already designing the dock OCEARCH’s main research vessel will call home.
Plans also include a shark research center that will be open to the public.
“We’re trying to incorporate several different aspects of the commercial fishing, the educational value of OCEARCH and the historical components,” Mikki Baldwin, of Mayport Village Working Waterfront, said.
Baldwin has worked closely with Jacksonville City Councilman Bill Gulliford on revitalization plans for the area.
She said after years of community meetings, the city has secured funding for new docks.
Work on a master plan for the area is expected to begin soon.
“I think it would be good for Mayport to have some new life,” Sara Baker said.
Baker is a teacher at Mayport Elementary School. She said the shark center would be a great educational tool.
“We’re a coastal science school, so we could probably bring children down from our school to be a part of the community more," she said. "It would be a win-win."
While she and others are excited about the proposed changes, some in Mayport Village tell Action News Jax they have their doubts.
“After 20 years, we have to be naysayers, and we have to know that something is going to come up somewhere. They're going to take the money and put it somewhere else,” Mark Williams, a longtime resident, said.
The new plans also call for space for offices, apartments and a path along the river where families can walk with their kids.
Baldwin said as work on the master plan is underway, the city's parks department is working to open up the waterfront near Singleton's so families can sit and enjoy the river.
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