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No other living architect has had a more powerful positive influence on the built environment in Jacksonville, Florida, than Taylor Hardwick. Along with his partner W. Mayberry Lee, of Hardwick & Lee Architects, Mr. Hardwick enhanced the North Florida built environment over a 50-year career.

Unfortunately, many of his masterpieces from the mid-20th century have been demolished, abused, or are in peril of achieving a similar fate.

Friendship Fountain

1965 was a big year for Taylor Hardwick. In addition to the Haydon Burns Library, his magnificent Friendship Fountain Park was implemented during that same year. The entire 14-acre park was built for $1.75 million with land donated by a group of Southside merchants, led by Frank Sherman, who was president of the American National Bank, to bring honor to the city by its Southside community. They wanted the highest fountain in the Southeast.

The fountain (when fully operational) was capable of sending a stream of water 200 feet into the air. This gem of Jacksonville could be seen by virtually any location downtown and in the nearby Southside.

The three pumps that provided pressure for these jets are located in the adjacent snail-shaped pump house. It was situated nearby to minimize friction from high-velocity water flowing through the pipes. The enclosure was so large that Mr. Hardwick incorporated it as a feature rather than as a utilitarian necessity.

The park was ultimately reduced to less than half its size when Hardwick's Dockmaster building and nearby mushroom-shaped sun shelters were replaced with a city-owned restaurant and parking lot.

Grohe, a German producer of high-end plumbing fixtures, features Taylor Hardwick's Friendship Fountain (and Mr. Hardwick) in a new series of print advertisements. The pumps and jets in the fountain are presently in need of replacement. The Grohe campaign provides worldwide attention and helps focus attention on the need to preserve and maintain this work of art.

http://www.grohe.co.uk/t/36_12509.html

http://www.grohe.de/t/22_1709.html

http://www.grohe.nl/t/85_3766.html

http://www.grohe.be/t/34_6350.html

http://www.grohe.it/t/53_5385.html

http://www.grohe.dk/t/21_9976.html

http://www.grohe.pt/t/93_7421.html

http://www.grohe.no/t/86_10340.html

http://www.grohe.es/t/27_2824.html

http://www.grohe.pl/t/91_9066.html

http://www.grohe.fi/t/31_14632.html

http://www.grohe.se/t/116_11526.html

http://www.jp.grohe.com/t/55_12734.html

http://www.grohe.fr/t/34_10786.html

One of his most outstanding works -- the 1965 Haydon Burns Library -- was closed on September 3, 2005. On July 8, 2005, the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission recommended replacing this magnificent building with a mixed-use development proposal from a Jacksonville concern called the Atkins Group.

Mr. Hardwick worked five years on the library building's design and has devoted the past year to preserving it. His 80th birthday was on July 15, 2005.

On November 28, 2005, the Atkins Group withdrew its bid, claiming city requirements were thwarting the project. The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission (JEDC) indicated Atkins could not come up with the $5 million purchase price in their proposal.

The following is a statement from Taylor Hardwick regarding this turn of events...

The city subsequently offered the property to the second-ranked bidder, Peterbrooke Chocolatier. On March 9, 2006, Peterbrooke decided to pass on the building after it's consultants reportedly revealed a need to do an estimated $500,000 to $750,000 in environmental remediation work to ostensibly remove 55,000 square feet of asbestos and a leaky underground heating oil tank. (For more information, visit this item in the Florida Times-Union.)

The city initially indicated it would suspend plans for sale of the building and retain it indefinitely for storage. Subsequent reports indicate the city may be reconsidering this avenue and may offer it to Main Branch LLC, whose $3.25 million bid for a mixed-use project which would retain most of the building's character came in third in the 2005 scoring, behind the Atkins and Peterbrooke bids. (For additional information, visit this item in the Florida Times-Union or this item in the Florida Times-Union.)

Recent articles in the Florida Times-Union and other publications have reported on new uses for the building.

The Haydon Burns Library will soon become a cultural beacon again. On various dates in April 2007 the play "Majigeen" was presented in the old library building. Majigeen is a musical- drama of historical fiction based on the life of Anta Majigeen Njaay, a young teenager torn from her home in Senegal in the early 19th Century and sold into slavery in Spanish owned Florida. For more information, please visit the Majigeen site at http://www.majigeen.com. (Aussi en français: http://www.majigeen.com/majigeenfrancais/indexf.html.)

The Florida Times-Union has released a reader poll which appears to indicate broad support for preserving the Taylor Hardwick's Haydon Burns Library building. To read their article, click here.

This website has a "Press" section, which includes links to articles and letters to the editor pertaining to the struggle to preserve the Haydon Burns Library. It includes links to articles about the push to get an historical designation for the building. Please take a look.