{"id":134141,"date":"2026-01-27T23:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T23:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/134141\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T23:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T23:04:09","slug":"the-steward-resident-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/134141\/","title":{"rendered":"The Steward \u2013 Resident News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>20 Really Good People<\/p>\n<p>Turning a Downtown Eyesore into an Oasis<\/p>\n<p>In 2013, a group of Downtown workers and friends gathered in a blighted spot then known as Hemming Plaza for brown bag lunches. Determined to bring life back to this historic place, they made it a regular activity, often dreaming of what the park could be, if only there was a group to steward its revival. That was the genesis of Friends of James Weldon Johnson Park, the nonprofit that has been managing Jacksonville\u2019s most historic park since Spring 2014, led by Board Chair Bill Prescott.<\/p>\n<p>A strong advocate for Downtown revitalization, Prescott was instrumental in creating the management contract with the City in those early years. He arrived in Jacksonville in 1993 as CFO and SVP Stadium Operations for the Jacksonville Jaguars, providing financial and operational leadership from its inception. His responsibility for managing relationships with City officials \u2013 the stadium venue\u2019s owner \u2013 made him ideally suited to assist with the park\u2019s contract as well.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DSC_1433-gigapixel-low_res-scale-4_00x-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Wayne Wood, Bill Prescott and Aundra Wallace (2015)\" class=\"wp-image-60399\"  \/>Wayne Wood, Bill Prescott and Aundra Wallace (2015)<\/p>\n<p>Over the past 12 years of Prescott\u2019s leadership, James Weldon Johnson Park, which celebrates its 160th anniversary this year, has transformed from an eyesore to an urban oasis where people love to gather. Visitors today can listen to live music, grab a bite from daily food trucks, play in the kid zone, or simply find respite from the Florida heat among flowers, shade and interesting sculptures. But there is more to do: A total design refresh<br \/>is coming in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBill\u2019s expertise and guidance has been crucial to the success of Friends of James Weldon Johnson Park,\u201d said Executive Director Liz McDonald. \u201cHis passion for the revitalization of Downtown helped create this wonderful public space that celebrates our community. This park is the heart of Downtown, and the new design will create that urban oasis we\u2019ve always dreamed of.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today, Bill Prescott is a principal with Heritage Capital Group, but his connection to James Weldon Johnson Park and Downtown remains strong. While he serves his community as a board member of Visit Jacksonville and Downtown Vision Inc., his heart is firmly rooted in Jacksonville\u2019s oldest park and his work to make it thrive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"20 Really Good People Turning a Downtown Eyesore into an Oasis In 2013, a group of Downtown workers&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-134141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}