Memorial Park Association

Memorial Park Gala — Celebrating 100 Years of Olmstead Brothers in Jacksonville

Memorial Park Gala — Celebrating 100 Years of Olmstead Brothers in Jacksonville

Memorial Park Association celebrated the kickoff of Memorial Park’s Centennial Anniversary with a gala at Timuquana Country Club on Saturday, Jan. 20. The evening of celebration, live music, dinner and drinks reflected on the history of Memorial Park and raised money to preserve and protect the park for generations. The Olmstead Brothers-designed Memorial Park was […]

Devastation Déjà Vu

Devastation Déjà Vu

It wasn’t that long ago that Memorial Park’s austere eagles, iconic sculpture and balustrades were blocked off by temporary fencing while the esplanade underwent restoration and refurbishment as part of Memorial Park Association’s (MPA) “Master Plan” improvements through its Spirit of Victory campaign. The campaign’s goal was to restore Memorial Park to its original grandeur […]

Memorial Park Adds to Board

Memorial Park Adds to Board

The Memorial Park Association added five new community leaders to its board of directors: Brooks Dame, executive assistant to Council Member Randy DeFoor; Cheryl Paganucci, retired systems analyst; Katie Quackenbush, marketing manager at Heritage Capital Group; Bill Shannon, retired Navy Rear Admiral; and David Wingard, chief creative officer of Wingard. These leaders, with backgrounds in […]

Residents, merchants honored with 2023 RAP awards

Residents, merchants honored with 2023 RAP awards

Riverside Avondale Preservation (RAP) hosted its 2023 annual meeting and awards ceremony at Riverside Church at the corner of Park and King streets on Thursday, Feb. 16. The meeting included a presentation by RAP Executive Director Shannon Blankinship recapping 2022 and outlining plans for the coming year and Jacksonville historian and RAP Founder Dr. Wayne […]

Construction moves forward to restore Memorial Park’s grandeur

Construction moves forward to restore Memorial Park’s grandeur

Time travel may not exist, but Jacksonville’s Memorial Park Association is opening a window to the past by working to restore Memorial Park to its original grandeur. Through the association’s construction committee for the Spirit of Victory campaign to restore Memorial Park per the “Master Plan” — established in 2013 — construction is currently underway […]

Memorial Park Association launches Life Scrolls exhibit at MOSH

Memorial Park Association launches Life Scrolls exhibit at MOSH

More than 70 guests attended the Nov. 12 opening night reception hosted by the Memorial Park Association for its exhibit of The Life Scrolls at the Museum of Science & History. The exhibit provides an intimate look at some of the 1,771 men and women from Florida who gave their lives serving the United States […]

Three years after Hurricane Irma, progress made in Memorial Park

Three years after Hurricane Irma, progress made in Memorial Park

Memorial Park Association’s Board of Directors was thrilled to see progress in March on the replacement of the nearly 100-year-old balustrade that formerly lined the seawall before Hurricane Irma destroyed it in September 2017. Board members aren’t the only ones happy to see the project underway. “Looking forward to it being restored to its former […]

Riverside’s historic park brings old friends, acquaintances together

Members of Memorial Park Association and guests were treated to an interesting look back at New York City’s Central Park from the perspective of the founder of the Central Park Conservancy, Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, who also wrote four books about the famous park, including “Saving Central Park: A History and A Memoir.” Rogers was the […]