Jacksonville City Council asked for the Main Street Bridge, one of Downtown’s most recognizable landmarks, to be added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan. 13.
With an 18-0 vote on Resolution 2025-0881, with member Ju’Coby Pittman away from the dais, Council encouraged the city’s Planning Department, the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission and the city’s Department of Public Works to work with the State Historic Preservation Office, the Florida Department of Transportation and preservation professionals prepare a nomination for the bridge to the national register.
The bridge is formally known as the John T. Alsop Bridge. Alsop served two terms as mayor, from 1923 to 1937 and from 1941 to 1945.
To qualify for the National Register, a structure must be at least 50 years old and appear largely the same as it did in the past, according to the National Park Service.
A structure should also be associated with significant historical events or individuals; embody architectural characteristics of a type, period or method of construction; or yield important historic information, according to the Florida Division of Historical Resources.
Matt Carlucci
Council member Matt Carlucci, one of the bill’s introducing sponsors, said recognizing the bridge was a way to honor Jacksonville’s history.
“It’s carried our citizens to work, to ballgames, to churches, to concerts. It’s a bridge that has lived so many uses for our community,” Carlucci said. “It’s a gesture of civic pride. Really, everybody loves that Main Street Bridge. This is a way to make our love affair with the bridge official.”
The bridge is set to undergo $100 million in renovations from FDOT beginning after July 1, 2027, FDOT said. Renovations will include replacement of the mechanisms at the top of the towers that raise and lower the bridge deck, replacement of the existing steel open grating with a solid surface, and a fresh paint job.
A specific date has not been set for the start of construction, an FDOT spokesperson said in an email, and FDOT has not determined a timeline for the work.
Because the bridge will need to remain open to marine traffic won the St. Johns River hile the raising and lowering mechanisms are replaced, it will be closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic for about six months while the work is underway.