MONDAY July 27, 2020
Public
jaxdailyrecord.com • 35 cents
legal notices begin on page 4
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
DEVELOPMENT
City Council wants to know cost of canceled RNC
Daily Record
Ascension St. Vincent’s to build hospital in St. Johns
JACKSONVILLE
Mayor’s chief of staff says employee hours were the only taxpayer resources used.
Daily Record Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
JACKSONVILLE
Special to the Daily Record
An artist’s rendering of the 56-bed hospital Ascension St. Vincent’s plans to build in Fountains North at Interstate 95 and County Road 210 in St. Johns County. The hospital is expected to create 600 jobs.
Construction on the $115 million facility is expected to begin this fall and be completed by 2022. BY KATIE GARWOOD STAFF WRITER
Ascension St. Vincent’s announced July 24 that it would build a hospital in Fountains North in St. Johns County. The mixed-use development is at Interstate 95 and County Road 210. Construction on the hospital is expected to begin this fall and be completed in 2022, a news release said. The $115 million, 150,000-square-foot facility will house 56 beds, including eight intensive care unit beds. It will offer emergency services, shortterm care, cardiovascular care, orthopedics and musculoskeletal care and general surgical, laboratory and imaging services. There will be room for expansion on the campus. Chief Strategy Officer David
Meyer said it eventually could accommodate up to 300 beds. It will expand as demand warrants, he said. The hospital is expected to create 600 VanOsdol jobs. “Our significant investment in this wonderful community is rooted in our desire to continue creating new options for St. Johns County residents to get the care they need, with the highest quality and compassion available, right here at home, right when they need us,” Ascension Florida and Gulf Coast President and CEO Tom VanOsdol said in the release. SEE HOSPITAL, PAGE 2
File image
The location map for Fountains North at Interstate 95 and County Road 210 in St. Johns County.
Jacksonville City Council members want to know what the canceled Republican National Convention cost Duval County taxpayers. During a July 24 special meeting, Council members Ron Salem and Garrett Dennis questioned Mayor Lenny Curry’s Chief of Staff Jordan Elsbury on what city resources were used to prepare for the RNC. On July 23, President Donald Trump called off the event planned Aug. 24-27 Downtown. Delegates will meet in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the RNC’s official business Elsbury of nominating him as the GOP presidential nominee. Dennis asked for a record of the money spent by the city Office of Special Events and for the Curry administration and other departments to quantify employee time spent related to the convention. “To the best of my knowledge” no Duval County taxpayer dollars were spent for the RNC other than staff hours, Elsbury said. “We’ve stated on numerous occasions that, other than staff time related to planning an event that we undertake for any special event that the city hosts — some times those happen, sometimes they don’t — but this one, specifically directed from the mayor’s office from the beginning, we SEE COUNCIL, PAGE 2
Demolition permit for old Kartouche building Demolition work could start July 27 on the closed Kartouche nightclub building at 618 W. Forsyth St. Downtown. Ben Pfotenhauer, owner of contractor Elev8 Land Clearing & Demolition, said July 24 the project could take a week. The city issued a permit July 23 for Elev8 to take down the 106-year-old structure at a cost of $49,500. The immediate plans after demolition are to grade and sod the site, according to a letter included with the permit application. Previous filings show the site at West Forsyth and Broad streets is targeted for redevelopment for a Daily’s gas station and convenience store.
VOLUME 107, NO. 177 • ONE SECTION