JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A project to reshape the Jacksonville’s Lavilla neighborhood may also bring commuter trains back to Downtown.

The Jacksonville City Council unanimously agreed to a deal to bring a University of Florida grad campus to Lavilla. 

Part of that deal will include preparing the Jacksonville Terminal at the Prime Osborn to host trains again. 

The University of Florida plans to transform the old terminal building by introducing shops, restaurants, and a train ticket station. It will also demolish the Prime Osborn convention center to create space for a new train station and campus facilities.

The idea of bringing a commuter train back to downtown has one of the people who voted on the idea feeling nostalgic.

“I remember approaching the train,” shared Jacksonville City Council Member Matt Carlucci. “Boarding the train. I recall the porters who would stroll along and assist passengers.”

Carlucci cherishes the memories of traveling by train as an eight-year-old with his grandmother from the Jacksonville Terminal to Waycross to see his uncle, who worked on the railways.

It’s been decades since he or anyone else made that trip. The terminal closed more than 50 years ago in 1974.

Now, plans for the new University of Florida grad campus approved this week call for revitalizing the terminal with shops, restaurants and a new ticket station, according to a spokesperson for Mayor Donna Deegan’s office.

That spokesperson says it could eventually host commuter trains, with city leaders exploring the possibility of a Brightline train connecting the terminal to cities across the state.

“It’ll be kind of cool to see people going back to it and seeing life,” Carlucci said.

The terminal would be on the UF grad campus, but would stay open to the public, according to the mayor’s office.

The grad campus plan includes building where the Prime Osborn stands behind the terminal, but the mayor’s office reports it will continue hosting conventions until UF is ready to develop the space.

At that point, the city will need to find a new location for conventions like the Home & Patio Show and boat show.

One option under consideration in the Downtown Investment Authority’s Master Plan is where the current jail stands on Bay Street.

“The convention center needs to be further downtown, closer to the core, maybe on the river,” Carlucci said. “I don’t know when we’ll do a convention center. We have a jail we have to do first.”

The mayor’s office reports it could be a decade before the terminal renovation is complete and hosts another train, and Carlucci is looking forward to the chance to take him back to his childhood.

“I’m so connected by family to the old train station, I wish they could be around to see this,” said Carlucci. “I’m sure they’d be very excited.”

Jacksonville received a $1.25 million grant in September to evaluate what is already in place and what would need to be done to accommodate a commuter train.

At the time, Mayor Donna Deegan shared this statement:

“This is an exciting opportunity to restore the Prime Osborn to its glory as Jacksonville’s central rail station and create more passenger rail options for our citizens and visitors alike. The LaVilla Transit Innovation and Equity Project will transform our downtown and create new economic development opportunities.”

All of this is in the later phases of the grad campus development – several years down the line.

But, the first phase on the other side of Bay Street is scheduled to be done in time to start hosting classes in the Fall of 2026.