Jacksonville Memorial Garden at the Salvation Army

Civil Engineering, Current Projects

BEAUTIFICATION | HIGHEST AND BEST USE

Jimmy Johns

A property’s perimeter can be overlooked. Especially when that property is a parking lot.  Sand tends to accumulate, and it is not long before weeds show up, garbage blows through, and quickly, the edges become unsightly and unusable. When a generous donor gifted enough money for a Memorial Garden, Solid Rock Engineering was able to find a higher and better use for what was formerly dismissed as remnant space.
Proposed Ross Garden Design
Color Rendering
The Salvation Army has asked Solid Rock to work on a memory garden out of the remnant space around their drive-through. This is an exciting project because we are reclaiming under-utilized space and giving it a better use.  Land is allocated, zoned, regulated and developed according to is “highest and best use” – a real estate concept originating in the late 19th Century. It set forth that Highest and Best Use is always that use which would produce the highest value for a property, regardless of its actual current use, and when it can most benefit the community at large. When we can convert scrap-filled, weed-ridden areas into Green Space with a purpose, then we too have achieved something worthwhile as if we are ourselves responding to our own highest and best use.
“The Appraisal Institute defines highest and best use as follows: The reasonably probable and legal use of vacant land or an improved property that is physically possible, appropriately supported, financially feasible, and that results in the highest value.”
The Salvation Army Memorial Garden, now under construction, is a project at their downtown building between N. Davis and Houston Streets.  We worked closely with a landscape architect and with the permitting agencies to make this project happen. It was not an easy journey.

Much of downtown Jacksonville is a hundred years old or more.  To get any new construction project up to compliance with the current code usually takes significant investment of not just money but time.  In this instance, because we will be serving the indigent population and providing green space for people, and because we were not creating a full profit area, we were able to work with the government agencies on strictly the proposed garden.  In this way, the permitting officials were able to interpret the code in a way that was manageable for the project. 

As you can see on the color rendering above, we are converting a drive-through from Houston Street to North Davis Street. The garden will provide reflection points, shaded areas and a place to eat. This is a good thing because the food bank entrance is in the same location. Soon, those who receive meals can take their food to one of the benches, or the picnic table, and sit in the shade to have some sustenance.

Cabbage Palm Frond about to bloom.

While we are removing parking spaces, we are maintaining the paved driving lane through the parcel of land so that if vehicle or if vehicular traffic needs to pass through it can. There will be new paver material on the driveway to make it feel more like a path.

The anchor of the garden use the existing oak tree. We are enhancing the green areas with new cabbage Palms And will be accentuating the existing Oleander with a new low Hedge in front along the drive on both sides.

There will be a concrete table, several benches and a pergola to provide shade.  Underneath the pergola will be a gravel with a picnic table and bench on top.  The air conditioning unit for the existing building will be surrounded by a memorial wall. Opposite that wall will be two benches shaded by ornamental trees. There will also be new hedges and a walkway to the playground. At the L, opposite the giant oak tree, there will be a water feature next to a new cabbage palm tree.

Lisbon residents pause  on park benches and reflect as birds drink and play.
Photo by JC Bonassin on Unsplash
It is typical of a Memorial Garden to create a space or spaces where those who want to remember can rest can relax and find a spiritual peace within a bustling downtown area that is not so easy but between buildings to Shield the noise, and with Lush plant material, we are hoping those who use this Garden will feel nourished, recognized and honored. It is typical to find a fountain, a water feature, in a Memorial Garden. Not only does this represent Living Water, and therefore life Open Bracket no matter what religion or spiritual background you come from clothes brackets but also because it soothes the spirit and blurs out the surrounding noise. A trickling water feature reminds us of the circle of life and how things go on , no matter what happens to each of us individually.  But it is more than that.   Nature helps us heal.   time spent with nature, but water or garden or animals, can go a long way to improving our mood.   while fresh air and sunshine can help release serotonin and Heat 2 the nutritive benefit of melatonin and vitamin D, to a homeless person they are getting plenty of such nourishment and quote but ordered Chaos and Order Garden demonstrates the order can come back into their lives that they can find that place. having a nice, pretty, well maintained space together engenders a sense of community semicolon this is good for Indigent Souls as well. With so much water around Jacksonville, it only makes sense to have a water feature in our Memorial Garden here at the Salvation Army building.
Want new articles before they get published? Subscribe to our Awesome Newsletter.

SOLID ROCK Revives Mandarin South

SOLID ROCK Revives Mandarin South

Mandarin South 11700 SAN JOSE BLVD, JACKSONVILLE, FL 32223 Mandarin South was originally constructed in 1982 and represents some of the original retail space in the Mandarin area.  Our client purchased the property and is investing heavily to once again make this a...

read more
Solar Farm in Baker County

Solar Farm in Baker County

BAKER COUNTY CIVIL ENGINEERING Solar Farm in Baker County The challenge with converting a tree farm to a solar farm is how to handle rain and storm water.  Roadways are a concern, too, but it is water primarily that requires the kind of expertise and precise...

read more
St John’s Town Center Project

St John’s Town Center Project

PROJECT UPDATE St. John's Town Center Parcel Taking a comparatively small parcel - a sub plot - within a master development of mixed use properties takes finesse and a professional civil engineer, if you want to avoid costly mistakes, misunderstanding existing...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This