Instead of negotiating with the Jacksonville Jaguars over who will pay for a new stadium, which not just give the damn thing to the football team?
Built 95 years ago with a seating capacity of 7,600, the old Fairfield Stadium was constructed primarily for the use of Jacksonville’s three new high schools – Lee, Jackson and Landon. When he attended the opening, Florida Gov. John Martin called the stadium, “the best place in Florida to watch a football game!”
On Jan. 1, 1946, the stadium held the first Gator Bowl Classic. Because of the success of the postseason college football game, the stadium was expanded in 1948 to 16,000 seats and renamed the Gator Bowl. The annual Florida-Georgia game also is held in the city’s stadium.
It was replaced in 1994 by the $200-plus million stadium known over the years as the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Alltell, Everbank and now TIAA Field. It covers ten acres in downtown Jacksonville near the St. John’s River.
Renovations totaling $40 million were completed just before the start of the 2003-2004 football season. The new stadium includes a Terrace Suite with 700 outdoor seats atop the south end zone, with a 10,000 square foot veranda, and a 19,000 square foot restaurant-style lounge. There also is a 15,000-square-foot sports bar called the Budweiser Bud Zone that features a state-of-the-art audio-visual system. Outside escalators carry fans into the 77,000-seat stadium.
But, now this costly structure is said to be outdated and inadequate.
USA Today ranked it 28th of 30 pro football stadiums. Sporting News ranked it 27th.
A recent poll found that 85 percent of Jacksonville residents do not want to pay the cost of yet another rebuild, which could be in the range of $800 million to more than $1 billion.
Instead of paying half or more of the cost, why not sell or give it to the Jaguars?
Four NFL teams are owners and operators of the stadiums where they play.
It would belong to the team’s owners, to expand as they wish, or to sell to another team if they ever leave Jacksonville. The only taxpayers to share in the cost would be the local football fans who buy tickets.
It is an income-producing asset, like the city’s electric and water utility. This year, the Jaguars are paying $3,886,040 in rent for the stadium. But if the never-ending need for repair and renovation is going to cause continual angst, it might be better to let someone else own it.
It will still produce revenue because the team will have to pay property taxes on the stadium. Somebody in City Hall should be crunching these numbers.
3 responses to “Fix the stadium, or give it up?”
AGI. That is “another great idea.” Sell the stadium, pay off the bills for Dailey’s Place and the Miller Practice Stands, use any remaining funds to improve the parking lots that the taxpayers will own and produce revenue for the City. Win for the Jags – build whatever they want; win for the City – out of the never-ending demands of more “fix ups and wi for the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers who could not get a ticket, even if they could afford one. No wonder the Jags wanted to get the deal done with “Giveaway Lenny”.
AGI. That is “another great idea.” Sell the stadium, pay off the bills for Dailey’s Place and the Miller Practice Stands, use any remaining funds to improve the parking lots that the taxpayers will own and produce revenue for the City. Win for the Jags – build whatever they want; win for the City – out of the never-ending demands of more “fix ups and win for the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers who could not get a ticket, even if they could afford one. No wonder the Jags wanted to get the deal done with “Giveaway Lenny”.
That must be why Shad Khan is so nasty nowadays. He didn’t get the deal done with Lenny!