Good evening,
About a week ago, nearly 50 PokéStops and 15 Gyms were removed from the downtown Jacksonville, North Carolina area. This location had a very active and passionate Pokémon GO community. Many of the removed locations were in public and community spaces—including parks, an environmental education center, churches, a train depot, marinas, and baseball fields.
Before reaching out, I made sure to do my homework. Here are the facts:
- The affected area is not on military property, though there is a base nearby.
- The Beirut Memorial had stops removed, but this is not in the dispute to get stuff reinstated.
- Most of the removed locations were clearly public-use areas like churches, parks, and city-owned facilities.
- There is no homeowners’ association governing this part of the city.
- The City of Jacksonville did not request removals.
- Parks and Recreation has confirmed they did not ask for these removals either.
What I’ve gathered so far:
- Picture 1 shows the locations of the 9 major gyms—each of which was accessible by public roads, legal parking, or parks.
- Picture 2 highlights the actual park areas in yellow.
- Picture 3 displays the zones now wiped clean of PokéStops and Gyms. I did not individually list all the stops. But if that data is needed once someone from Niantic/Scopley reaches out, I can bring that to the table too.
- Picture 4 includes gym names, addresses, and related data.
Our community is really struggling with this sudden loss. We believe this may have been an accidental sweep—possibly tied to legitimate removal of stops on a nearby military installation—or a mistaken mass removal request. While the latter is unlikely, we want to be thorough in exploring all possibilities.
Is there anyone from Niantic or Scopely who can look into this?
We would deeply appreciate any support in understanding what happened—and hopefully restoring what was lost. This community has been actively engaging, growing, and supporting one another through the game. We’d hate to see that progress erased.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
