Before & After: San Marco Square's Balis Park

Metro Jacksonville takes a before and after look at the transformation of San Marco Square's Balis Park.

It doesn't take millions of dollars and years to significantly transform the atmosphere of Jacksonville's walkable commercial districts. In November 2012, Metro Jacksonville highlighted plans to modify a roadway intersection into a public square, as a late addition to a streetscape project that was already underway.  Less than a year later, the conversion of Balis Park into a bonafide centralized public square for San Marco has been realized.

As a result, automobile movement has been improved on existing streets and the community gained a great public amenity. The most impressive feat may be that this project was funded through private donations and took advantage of existing amenities in the area.  Here is a before and after look at Balis Park and the intersection of San Marco Boulevard and Atlantic Boulevard today.









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Visiting Balis Park



Balis Park is located in the middle of the intersection of San Marco Boulevard and Atlantic Boulevard.

Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com