Jacksonville is a city that’s always growing – but sometimes it’s easy to lose track of how far we’ve come. To help add some perspective, we’ve compiled a list of 15 things that Jacksonville didn’t have just 15 years ago – but that we do have now!
15 years ago, the city’s main library was housed in what’s now the Jessie Ball DuPont Center.
While the building has been renovated and looks great now, it was too small to serve as the main library and also looked a bit dated. There were also technology upgrades needed that would’ve made it easier to simply start over elsewhere.
That’s why, as part of the Better Jacksonville Plan, the city arranged for the construction of a brand new, 300,000 square foot location bordering Hemming Park. The new building was designed by national architect Robert A. M. Stern, and featured in an American Institute of Architects publication. It opened in 2005.
