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Big Jim is Home!
After a lengthy silence, Jacksonville's historic steam whistle, Big Jim, will soon blow again. And this time he'll be blowing from the JEA Main St. Water Facility, his original home. We're bringing the whistle back to Springfield after salvaging it from our retired Southside Generating Station, which we recently demolished to provide green space for the community.
Last year, we at JEA surveyed Springfield residents to make sure Big Jim would be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. And overwhelmingly, you told us that you would like him to come back. Here are the survey results:
- I like the idea of Big Jim moving to Springfield (77 out of 90 respondents agree or strongly agree)
- The times of day that Big Jim currently blows are OK with me (78 out of 90 respondents agree or strongly agree)
- The days of the week that Big Jim currently blows are OK with me (69 out of 90 respondents agree or strongly agree)
- The whistle is not too loud or obtrusive (74 out of 90 respondents agree or strongly agree, however the whistle will not be quite as loud as it was previously)
We wanted to let you know that you'll be hearing Big Jim very soon. We will conduct a few test blasts of the steam equipment that will power Big Jim on Tuesday, October 22 and Wednesday, October 23, and test blows of the whistle itself will occur on Thursday, October 24 and Friday, October 25 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Big Jim should begin operating on his regular schedule on Monday, October 28 at noon. We will be inviting the media to cover the first blow.
In keeping with the time schedule he's kept since 1890, Big Jim will blow at 7:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. However, as you've requested, the whistle will not blow on weekends.
We hope you're as excited about Big Jim's homecoming as we are at JEA. If you have any questions, please call Jacob Plicque at 665-6238.
Thanks to you, our valued customers, who are partnering with us on another project as we build community.
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