Date: 9/2/2021

Location: SPAR Office Virtual Meeting (1321 North Main Street)

Time: 6 pm

Kelly Rich, SPAR Executive Director, welcomed the approximate 35 guests online to the meeting. 

Kelly apologized for the last minute change of venue due to the weather, but informed attendees that there will be a rescheduled on-site meeting at the Main Street Food Park to be announced soon. This will be for members of the community to meet business owners, Hector and Cherron, and learn more about what they plan for this space, ask questions, and voice their concerns. 

Kelly discussed Groundwork Jacksonville’s continued work on envisioning what Hogans Creek will look like as part of the Emerald Trail. The goal of the Hogan’s Creek Task Force is to look for ways to reduce flooding, improve the water quality, provide better habitats for fish and wildlife, improve access, increase recreational opportunity, increase resiliency and look at the impact of sea level rise, using the natural channel design instead of restraining that is current in place, and maintaining historically significant features. There will be changes to the width of the creek, which means there is a possibility that the historic balustrades will be moved. The overall goal will be to repurpose, recreate, and keep the branding and design that is so instrumental to Hogans Creek and Klutho Park. 

Groundwork’s goal for a completed conceptual design of Hogans Creek is for the end of January 2022, and they hope to host a creek festival to share preliminary designs at the end of November 2021. So far, through Groundwork’s online survey for the Hogans Creek redesign, they have only received about 250 responses. They have also held multiple Hogans Creek Vision walks, as well as two visioning sessions during the last week of August. It is imperative that Historic Springfield stakeholders make their voices heard. Groundwork’s Executive Director, Kay Ehas, asked if members of the Springfield community could answer questions (provided here) and email responses to her at [email protected] as soon as possible. Community input provided from stakeholders will be shared with consultants who are working on the Hogans Creek redesign. Additionally, Kay and the Groundwork Jacksonville team will be attending the September 29th Music on Main for anyone who would like to have a conversation with them directly.https://www.sparcouncil.org/capital_campaign_donation

Date: 5/6/2021

Location: SPAR Office Virtual Meeting (1321 North Main Street)

Time: 6 pm

Kelly Rich, SPAR Executive Director, welcomed the approximate 25 guests online to the meeting.

Kelly introduced the Perkins & Will Team. They shared their vision for the Park Redevelopment Design Competition underway for the site formerly known as The Landing. 

Kelly discussed the progress of moving back into the SPAR Building at 1321 North Main Street and the Building for the Future Capital Campaign. The campaign has raised approximately $350,000 of the $500,000 goal. Every donation would greatly help SPAR move closer to the goal of covering the costs of the total restoration of the building. She showed before and after pictures of the progress within the building so far, including the layout of the downstairs Community Collaboration Center, outside staircase to the 2nd floor, and the upstairs headquarters for SPAR. Kelly shared a mockup of the Prairie Cross glass etching, which will show appreciation for donors, and will be displayed outside of the Community Collaboration Center.

Kelly gave an update from SAMBA (Springfield Area Merchants and Business Association) and the Springfield Commercial Corridor. She informed attendees that there are currently 76 members of SAMBA, who are represented by the SAMBA Advisory Committee within the Commercial Corridors discussions. SAMBA meetings are free to visit and open to anyone in Springfield or those who want to do business in Springfield. SAMBA membership levels include two tiers for returning members (General at $100 and Executive at $250). New members of SAMBA can join at $50 for the first year with an Introductory membership. SAMBA works to invite quality speakers and include resources beneficial to small businesses.

SAMBA sponsors two grant programs for its membership - the Quarterly Mini-Grant for members’ events and the Facade Grant. The SAMBA Mini-Grant helps offset costs for members’ events and programs. In 2021, SAMBA doubled the budget for the Facade Grant and awarded three businesses (Hof’s Printing, Bishop Classic Motors, and RE/MAX Supreme) with grants so far. Applications for both grant programs are available on the SPAR website.

Date: 2/4/2021

Location: SPAR Office Virtual Meeting (1334-1 Walnut Street)

Time: 5:30 pm

Kelly Rich, SPAR Executive Director, welcomed the approximate 25 guests online to the meeting.

Kelly introduced Kristin Keen, Executive Director of Rethreaded, who will soon be moving to Historic Springfield at 9th and Ionia Streets. Rethreaded is a nonprofit whose mission is to renews hope, reignites dreams and releases potential for survivors of human trafficking locally and globally through business. They do this by providing survivors with long-term employment coupled with mental health care and care management. Rethreaded has been in the Railyard District for the past 9 years in a location with only 2600 square feet, and they employ 27 people. The retail, production, and administration branches for their organization have all been within that space with no room for them to grow.

Kristin announced that Rethreaded has officially closed on the building at 9th and Ionia streets and are officially moving to Springfield. The campus and it’s included buildings are about 36,000 square feet. Rethreaded will be using 20,000 square feet of the campus and renting out the additional space. This nearly quadruples Rethreaded’s capacity to hire and serve more survivors of human trafficking.Renovations are currently taking place with a soft move-in date of April 2021. Rethreaded plans to build out an industrial kitchen, running a third party logistics company, and expand their sewing production. The retail space will be expanded to 2800 square feet with business hours from 9 am to 5 pm.

Kristin expressed that when the Rethreaded team came to Springfield for the initial tour of the space, they were impressed by the welcome they received from the neighborhood with representatives of SPAR and members of the neighborhood in attendance. They still have funds to raise for the property and are creating a prayer and meditation garden for survivors. Members of the community can purchase a personalized brick to be added to this space for $125. The community can literally pave the way for Rethreaded to help more survivors of human trafficking to reclaim their lives. Rethreaded can’t wait to help change more lives with the Springfield community and bring restoration and hope to continue to rethread.

Date: 12/3/2020

Location: Uptown Kitchen & Bar (1303 N Main Street)

Time: 5:30 pm

Tim Hope, SPAR Board President, welcomed the approximate 50 guests, both in-person and online, to the meeting. He shared with attendees that there are a lot of ways to get involved with Springfield and SPAR: you can volunteer at an event, join a SPAR committee, donate to a SPAR program, and, also, share the positive changes that are occurring in the neighborhood with friends and family.  

Date: 9/3/2020

Location: Sesquicentennial Park (1527 N. Main Street)

Time: 5:30 p.m.

Kelly Rich, SPAR Executive Director, welcomed the approximate 45 guests to the meeting. She announced the cancellation of Jacksonville PorchFest 2020 and offered thanks to the local community for their continued support throughout the pandemic. Kelly announced, in lieu of the event, that SPAR is selling a t-shirt to commemorate “The PorchFest That Never Was” with funds raised going towards next year’s festival. 

Kelly Rich presented news about the repair of the SPAR building at 1321 N. Main Street, which was damaged during Hurricane Irma two years ago. The SPAR Asset Management Committee has chosen to work with a local construction company - Auld and White. SPAR is currently working with the City of Jacksonville on the permits with construction starting within 30 days. The goal is to have SPAR building open and operational by early December of 2020. Kelly went on to describe the space, including two office spaces and a full conference room for use by the Board, as well as other Springfield organizations for meetings and events.

We were not able to meet in person for our Spring Community Meeting. We took our notes and put in a slideshow video to share. Please watch and see! Not as much content as a normal Community Meeting since the COVID crisis has slowed some progress but we're all moving forward! Thank you Springfield for your continued support. 

Due to extreme weather, the February 6th Quarterly Community Meeting was canceled. Please take a look at the following video, which will show some highlights of what we had planned to discuss.

Date: 11/19/19

Location: Wells Fargo Community Learning Center (1601 N. Main Street)

Time: 5:30 p.m.

Tim Hope, SPAR Board President, welcomed the approximate 45 guests to the meeting. He shared a recap of PorchFest 2019 and offered thanks to SPAR Board and Staff for a successful event.

Tim presented news about the repair of the SPAR building at 1321 N. Main Street, which was damaged during Hurricane Irma two years ago. The SPAR Asset Management Committee has chosen an architect and have analyzed the first draft of drawings/blueprints. The next step will be the bidding process and search for a contractor. The soft goal is to have SPAR building open and operational by the 2020 Home Tour. Tim went through the approved blueprint, pointing out each designated space, including a full conference room for use of the Board, as well as the rest of the Springfield community.  

Tim opened the floor to questions about the project and presented the Building for the Future, capital fundraising campaign, to the community. This campaign will focus on raising funds for building renovations and improvements set to begin in the Spring of 2020.

Date: 9/5/2019

Location: Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Florida’s Citi Teen Center (313 E. 10th Street)

Time: 5:30 pm

Kelly Rich, SPAR Executive Director, welcomed the approximate 65 guests to the meeting. She shared with attendees that there are a lot of ways to get involved with Springfield and SPAR: you can volunteer at an event, join a SPAR committee, donate to a SPAR program, and, also, share the positive changes that are occurring in the neighborhood with friends and family.

Date: 5/9/2019

Location: Wells Fargo Community Learning Center (1601 N. Main Street)
Time: 5:30 pm

Kelly Rich, SPAR Executive Director, welcomed the approximate 44 guests to the meeting. She shared with attendees that there are a lot of ways to get involved with Springfield and SPAR: you can volunteer at an event, join a SPAR committee, donate to a SPAR program, and, also, share the positive changes that are occurring in the neighborhood with friends and family.