Daily Record Financial News &
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 187 • One Section
Baptist starting on $65M tower
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Recasting of Friends Vince Cavin resigns after almost two years as nonprofit’s CEO
Moves called ‘step in the right direction’
Parks Department submits ideas for programming park
Bill Prescott
Wayne Wood
New leadership, new help in place for nonprofit By David Chapman Staff Writer For Friends of Hemming Park to have a chance for a future, it had to make changes from its past. The nonprofit that has operated the iconic Downtown venue for almost two years shifted its leadership over the weekend. The moves come after a consistent barrage of scrutiny from City Council over how the organization has spent part of its $1 million cityfunded contract and whether the nonprofit should continue running the park. Gone is Vince Cavin, the only CEO the group has had. Cavin submitted his resignation to the Friends board over the weekend, days after a special council committee continued
Cavin
to critically analyze the past and future of the park. Bill Prescott, the organization’s treasurer and a board member, has taken over as interim CEO. But those weren’t the only
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Baptist Health has launched construction on a $65 million tower and other work at its Baptist Medical Center South campus for initial completion in early 2018. That campus is in a high-growth area at Flagler Center, south of Old St. Augustine Road between Interstate 95 and Philips Highway. Ron Robinson, hospital president for Baptist Medical Center South, said the first four floors of the eight-story structure will be built-out and the remaining levels will be left empty for future expansion. “With our current utilization rate and increased population growth in south Jacksonville, additional beds will be needed by 2018,” Robinson said. The new building, referred to as Tower C, will connect with the adjacent Tower D on the first three floors. The new tower, at 152,000 square feet, will initially include 42 hospital beds, which boosts the number of beds on the campus to 311. When the rest of the tower is completed, it will increase the number of beds at Baptist South to 407. There is no timeframe for that. The floors can be built-out as needed, Robinson said. The first floor of the new tower will accommodate administrative and support space, while the second floor will be a surgical expansion. There will be 18 beds on the third floor for labor-delivery recovery postpartum and 24 on the fourth floor for medicalsurgical. A building-permit application shows Batson-Cook Co. will build the $5.6 million project for the core and shell, as well as an addition to the Central Energy Plant needed for the new tower. Baptist Medical Center South, at 14550 Old St. Augustine Road, comprises a 165bed hospital, the 104-bed Tower D and two medical office buildings. Mathis continued on Page A-2
Board treasurer assuming interim CEO duties
changes announced Monday. The group has added Michelle Barth and Suzanne Jenkins in voluntary roles to help with fundraising and strategic planning. The changes for the group were needed, said one council member. But to another, they simply weren’t enough. Council members also will hear plans from the city’s Parks, Recreation & Community Services Department, which was asked to show what it could do in Hemming Park with a similar budget. Cavin in a prepared statement said he hoped his departure can alleviate ongoing distractions related to the nonprofit’s past decisions and push the conversation forward about what’s best for the park. Friends continued on Page A-4
Board president to be programming coordinator
Michelle Barth
Volunteering to develop fundraising strategy
Suzanne Jenkins Director of strategic planning on volunteer basis
Advocate pushes to preserve library’s budget By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Brinton
Public
Don’t accept the new normal. That’s the mantra attorney and public library advocate Bill Brinton hopes the community will embrace as City Council prepares to begin reviewing the city’s 2016-17 spending plan proposed by Mayor Lenny Curry. The public library‘s annual budget was $40.8 million in 2010-11 and has since steadily decreased. The budget proposed for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 is
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$31.2 million, about $428,000 less than the current budget, due to reduced costs for internal information technology service charges and utilities. “The public does not understand how the library got hammered,” said Brinton. Library officials declined to comment for this story, instead providing only annual budget allocation figures for the past two years. One of the major changes in library services due to budget reductions was the number of hours libraries are open.
When the 2012-13 library budget was enacted, 224 service hours — about 24 percent — were eliminated, along with 71 fulltime jobs. With fewer hours of operation, not as many librarians were needed to staff the Main Library Downtown and the 20 neighborhood branch libraries. Reducing hours also cut the costs for security and janitorial services, said public library Director Barbara Gubbin at the time. The Main Library is open 48 hours per week, while most branches are open 40 hours each
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week. Many are closed Sunday and Monday. The eight hours were added to the Main Library schedule when council found $100,000 in additional funding for libraries in the 2016-17 budget, Brinton said. Despite that small gain, he’s concerned about next year’s budget, which will begin to be reviewed next week by the council Finance Committee. “The way budgets go, if you had it last year, it’s easier to have it next year. If it’s gone, it’s hard to get it back,” he said. Library continued on Page A-2
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