A.G. Gancarski
On Friday, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry will lead a crew in a building demolition effort. But it’s for a good reason: the eradication of blight, and renewal.
A release from the mayor’s office asserts that “a Jacksonville neighborhood, once ridden with crime, will soon experience a “groundbreaking” effort unlike any other.”
“In preparation of the development of Payne Avenue Walk – a 12-unit affordable single family home complex located in one of the city’s most vulnerable communities,” the release continues, “Mayor Lenny Curry, city leadership, contractors and representatives with Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corporation will lead a demolition of the current facility.”
“For decades,” the release adds, “the Payne Avenue community has been plagued with crime, violence, blight and other conditions that erode public safety and quality living.”
Curry has focused like the proverbial laser on blight throughout his administration. He hired Denise Lee, the former City Councilwoman who made Blight remediation a focus of her tenure, as Director of Blight Initiatives. The proposed Neighborhoods Department reorganization has Lee reporting directly to CAO Sam Mousa, who is known for getting things done.
Curry, speaking on blight earlier this month ahead of his administration’s first community conversation on the Jax Journey, asserted that “we’re about getting things done. This sends a message to neighborhoods [that] we care and are looking out for them. We’re here and we’re ready to take action” on a “whole lot of neglect over the years.”
