A.G. Gancarski
Most of those who speak into live microphones in Jacksonville are very careful with their word choice.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan is not really an exception to that rule. However, since he is generally used to talking to other captains of industry and policy makers, Khan tends to speak with the sort of nuance that works better in board rooms than in front of cameras.
It happened most recently on Thursday, at an Enterprise Florida event, where he made some remarks about downtown.
The potential of the London junkets, Khan said, has to be augmented with smart investments at home. Downtown development and the Shipyards project, Khan said, projected “self-confidence and gravitas,” asserting that “Jacksonville is a great city, with a tremendous amount of potential.”
And such development is necessary. Khan remarked, “As you’re approaching the stadium, the prison is on the left hand side,” the “polluted shipyards” are en route, and the highlight of the trip is the Maxwell House coffee factory.
“This needs to be a lot better,” he said.
“We’re committed to playing a key role in downtown. And the city is a key partner in the advancement of Jacksonville.”
In that part of the speech, he also said that “there’s nothing iconic about Jacksonville.”
Having lived here for a few decades, I see where he’s coming from. I didn’t find it especially quotable.
Unfortunately for Khan, the rest of the local media did.
Action News Jax and First Coast News jumped on it. And this will be the talking head debate for the next news cycle or two.
Of course, the debate won’t be about the truth of the statement; it will be about the propriety of having said it.
Jacksonville is a big small town, one whose inferiority complex is amply documented. Those with longish memories will recall the national media dogpile when Duval hosted its first and only Super Bowl a decade ago.
The consensus take: there wasn’t a wow factor. Not enough hotels; people slept on cruise ships. Not enough downtown entertainment; Super Bowl parties were all over the place, and there weren’t enough cabs, and so on.
Shad Khan, who is a cosmopolitan figure, spent the vast majority of his speech at Sawgrass talking about his vision to transform Jacksonville.
The drive-by media reduced it to a soundbite.
This has happened to Khan before.
In 2014, Khan got pilloried in the press for saying “a homeless guy in Detroit has more mojo than a millionaire in Jacksonville.”
Undoubtedly, he will have to do the same with this.
The fact is that Jacksonville lacks the iconic image. Think of the shots coming back from commercial during football games. Most of them involve a 30 year old shopping mall (yes, the Jacksonville Landing) that pretty much everyone has agreed, since the turn of the century, is past its point of real viability.
Whether Jacksonville needs something iconic or not is a matter of debate.
Khan seems to believe his Shipyards project is it, and he has buy in from everyone who actually matters in Jacksonville.
The reality is that he is working toward something.
We can pretend that the Duval County Jail or the Maxwell House factory somehow should define downtown.
But who are we kidding?
2 comments
Bob Moore
August 20, 2015 at 10:39 pm
We were at the Biltmore winery last week, and admitted that we were from Florida. The bartender said, “oh oh, you have that sad Jacksonville face.” Ouch..,
Ben M
August 21, 2015 at 2:20 pm
Most ironic part was Shad’s highlighting of Millennial Park in Chicago as a good example for his point while simultaneously pushing back on the inclusion of significant public space in his proposal for the Shipyards.
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