Ingenuity Magazine Summer 2020

Pond Ingenuity Summer 2020 19 Pond is improving the transportation infrastructure of the La Villa area in Jacksonville with an iconic new multi- modal transportation and administration center. Th e J a c k s on v i l l e Re g i on a l Transportation Center at La Villa (JRTC) consists of two parts, an inter-city bus terminal building, served by regional and national bus chains, and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) administration headquarters, which also serves as a city bus transit hub and a Skyway transit station. The two buildings sit across the street from each other in the La Villa neighborhood and are joined by a pedestrian bridge. The historic Jacksonville train station, now Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, is located across West Bay Street from the new buildings. “This area of the city has always been a transportation hub,” said Steve Harrill, AIA, Pond’s Director of Architecture in Jacksonville, who completed the project as Pond’s Project Manager for the Pond/Michael Baker International joint-venture team. “The new JRTC is really bringing this section of the city back to its roots.” The look of the building’s exterior is reminiscent of the City’s history. Jazz nightclubs populated this area of Jacksonville at the beginning of the last century and the JRTC’s glass front interprets that spirit of improvisation and free-form. “The idea was to take the historical context of the community and embody it into the design of the building so it will become a memorable, iconic building within the city,” Harrill explained. The ornate exterior is matched in complexity on the building’s inside. The Pond/Michael Baker team collaborated with stakeholders to address the issues of building over a busy roadway and around the existing Skyway railway and station on the project site. The people mover now literally moves through the second story of the JTA administration building. In spite of these challenges, the team worked together seamlessly to bring the large publicly-funded project to a close on time and within the JTA’s set budget. Pond provided architecture; mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering; fire protection; interior design; traffic analysis; project management; construction administration and JTA employee relocation assistance for the project. “What I’m most proud about on the project is what it means for the future.” The new JRTC is already bringing favorable capital interest to the La Villa neighborhood. “What I’m most proud about on the project is what it means for the future,” said Nina Sickler, PE, Vice President of Pond and Principal-in-Charge of the project team. “This project has spawned a lot of excellent things for the La Villa area and downtown Jacksonville,” she said. New multi-use developments are being built on nearby lots and retail space available within the JRTC itself is receiving a lot of attention. Additionally, the first section of the City of Jacksonville’s long-planned greenway, The Emerald Trail, will cross right in front of the JRTC. The JRTC is also serving as an impetus for innovation. “Pond is working with the JTA to look at options to convert the Skyway to a system for self-driving vehicles,” Sickler said. “Looking at doing something like that downtown was, I think, spurred by this multi-modal hub that we developed here.” The team worked cohesively with JTA to further their overarching vision of improving safety and transit access in Northeast Florida. “This iconic project will serve as the bookend to the future development of Jacksonville’s Shipyards and will support on-going redevelopment initiatives in the historic LaVilla neighborhood,” said JTA Project Manager, Frederick Jones, AICP. The creation of this new regional mobility hub in the heart of LaVilla will connect users from Downtown Jacksonville to all areas of the Northeast Florida region. After opening in May 2020, this facility will be a catalyst for continued redevelopment.