JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Under a watchful eye, hundreds of families poured into The Block Jax for its opening weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s probably 42 cameras on site,\u201d founder and owner Daniel Moffatt said.<\/p>\n
Moffatt welcomed crowds to the new venue, which blends an outdoor food hall, playground and dog park \u2014 all with a strong focus on safety. That emphasis comes at a time when public spaces across the Jacksonville area have faced concerns over teen takeovers.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re not 18 years old and up, you need to be with parents unless parents are on site,\u201d Moffatt said. \u201cIf kids are 15 or 16, they have the ability to walk around, but parents are still with them.\u201d<\/p>\n He says the goal is to keep the space family-friendly \u2014 with a clear emphasis on supervision.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just don\u2019t want people here that are without parental guidance,\u201d Moffatt said. \u201cSixteen-year-olds don\u2019t need to be wandering around a place like this without parents.\u201d<\/p>\n The safety measures are designed with both parents and pets in mind.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve all heard of \u201cDuval\u201d \u2014 but at The Block, it might feel more like \u201cDog-val.\u201d<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n One couple visiting with their dog, Milo, said the atmosphere stood out right away. Sitting in a stroller, the 2-year-old pup sniffed out the scene \u2014 careful but curious, much like his owner, John Rivera.<\/p>\n \u201cI have security concerns because I\u2019m originally from Chicago, and we have Navy Pier,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cWe stopped going because of security. There were a lot of shootings and robberies.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, the Riveras are giving a different kind of outdoor entertainment venue a try \u2014 this time in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen this online and it looks beautiful,\u201d Sarah Rivera said.<\/p>\n The Block Jax features eight food vendors and can hold just under 1,100 people.<\/p>\n \u201cWe like tacos, so we know they got tacos here,\u201d John Rivera added.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n For now, a balloon arch marks the entrance, but the owner says a permanent gate is coming soon \u2014 aimed at keeping safety as high as the energy.<\/p>\n Moffatt also says there is no entrance fee unless there\u2019s a ticketed event or special concert. Parking is free, with 125 spaces available.<\/p>\n Security will be on site Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Under a watchful eye, hundreds of families poured into The Block Jax for its opening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200655,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[92728,92723,2063,92727,92726,92729,92725,116,118,117,92731,634,92730,92732,92724,56486],"class_list":["post-200654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-block_jack","tag-block_jacks","tag-chicago","tag-daniel_moffatt","tag-deerwood","tag-dogvall","tag-gate_parkway","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-john_rivera","tag-local","tag-milo","tag-navy_pier","tag-quarter_mill_drive","tag-rivera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200654","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=200654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}