Downtown Jacksonville:

The fate of the historic Hayden Burns Library could be decided today. The city will choose from five different proposals, here is a rundown of a few of those.

1. Main Branch LLC plans to convert the library to condos, office space, a restaurant and a grocery store. Most important, Main branch will preserve the architecture, which is a defining element of Ocean Street. This would be the most advantageous for Downtown Jacksonville!

2. Peterbrooke Chocolate plans to convert the library to a chocolate factory. Sure this would be a PR success, “The entire city smells like chocolates!” However this brings no value to the residents/workforce of Downtown Jacksonville.

3. Atkins Group plans to convert the library to condos, retail space and a movie theatre. This would be more acceptable than the Peterbrooke plan, however a quality grocery store is sorely needed in downtown. Especially with the number of residential units increasing.

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