At the 2018 #DTJax Gala: Vintage Circus, we presented the third annual #DTJax Awards to celebrate the people and projects that make Downtown Jacksonville a better place to live, work, visit and invest. The Downtown Achievement Award recognizes an individual or organization for a significant body of work that reinforces Downtown as the premier center for arts, dining, retail, entertainment, business and/or urban living in Northeast Florida.
After years of schooling at Princeton, Harvard and MIT, Mr. Preston Haskell settled in Jacksonville and founded The Haskell Company in 1965. An innovative leader in the construction industry, Mr. Haskell was a driving force behind the practice of Design-Build, delivering on the full scope of work from concept to completion in-house. And as such, he’s served as the founding chairman of the Design-Build Institute of America and the director of the Civil Engineering Forum for Innovation.
Not only is the Haskell Company a prominent fixture on Downtown’s Northbank, its portfolio is packed with projects that have shaped Downtown life. Employees bustle in the Raymond James building and Fidelity National Financial headquarters. Residents enjoy amenities like the new Winston Family YMCA, the Southbank Riverwalk and EverBank Field. And that’s just to name a few.
His service to the community has touched many Downtown institutions: as director of Baptist Health, and as former chairman of the Chamber, JEA, United Way and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Haskell is also a noted art benefactor and collector, who has recently started a Downtown sculpture initiative, planning to place almost a dozen sculptures outside Downtown buildings in the coming years. Florida Trend has named him a “Florida Icon,” and we declare Mr. Haskell a Downtown Jacksonville icon as well.
Thank you, Mr. Haskell, for your continued devotion to our community and for making Downtown Jacksonville a better place for all who live, work and visit here.