A.G. Gancarski
The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee on Tuesday approved moving $1.945 million from the Sports Complex Capital Maintenance Fund to fund improvements at the Sports Complex.
The bill is now ready for the full Council to vote on it next week.
The money was available, per a city representative, because of “excess debt service” funds from FY 17.
Among the projects to be funded: “seating bowl repairs and widening of the front entrance plaza at the Arena, steel painting, lighting upgrades, bleacher repairs, upgrading of video control room equipment and concourse televisions, and turf equipment replacements at the Baseball Grounds, and replacing aging food service equipment, upgrading the phone system, seating bowl repairs, and building system upgrades at the stadium.”
The city has spent big money on the sports complex in recent years.
In recent years, Jacksonville taxpayers have authorized $88 million of city-funded capital improvements to the Jaguars’ stadium: $43 million for the world’s biggest scoreboard, and half of a $90 million buy in that secured a new amphitheater, a covered practice field, and club seat improvements.
While these were splashier spends than the current allocation, the proposed budget transfer suggests that capital improvements never stop at the complex.
The city has worked to revive the sports complex area. One benefit of the Talleyrand Connector project that the city got $12.5 million of state money to start was being able to shift traffic from the Hart Bridge to surface streets passing the sports complex.
On Thursday, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan will unveil development plans for the stadium.
“That [Lot J and the Shipyards project] is very important for us, local revenue, and also really to play a role in Jacksonville development and the potential,” Khan said. “But you have to wait. We have State of the Franchise coming up and we’ll have a lot of information on that.”
Among the concerns: contamination under Lot J at the stadium, an area which is envisioned as an entertainment zone.
