Closing the Equestrian Center????

[fsujax]

I have never been there, but I think this is terrible. I believe our City Council is losing their minds.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/29016982/detail.html

[thelakelander]

Lol, all for $200k in savings?  They could immediately save over $800k by simply not rebuilding Monroe Street in front of the courthouse.

[Tacachale]

This is the silliest thing I've ever heard.

Hey, the baseball grounds aren't making as money as they could if the Suns advertised better. Let's not work with them on that, just close down the park.

And you know what's a big money loser? Sewers and drainage. Shut them down.

I hear we're spending millions on beach renourishment projects every decade or so. We could save a ton of money by just locking the beach up.

Sheesh.

[duvaldude08]

Well I pose this question. What purpose has the Equestrain Center served since it has been there? I have never been there, nor do I ever here  of anything being hosted there? I may sound crazy, but what is it exactly? I may sound Naive. Somebody school me please

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Actully this reminds me of the thread about the median enhancements.

The city agreed, assumed, understood with another agency that if they built it, someone would come in a maintain it.  Yet, all of these jobs seem to be without takers. 

I'm all for agreeing on a job with a nod and a handshake, but shouldn't a municipality have a something a little more substantial, you know, like a contract before starting all of these projects. 

$25M to build, $400k/yr O&M - Let's shut it down to save $200k/yr.  Really?   How much are you going to put in it to bring the building back to snuff after 3-4 years of decay?  I say a lot more than the $800k you saved by keeping it occupied. 

On a side note, maybe someone should go back through the contract and really find out who's on the hook for the maintenance.  Or maybe they could really push for a public/private and find a way to get an organization into the building.

[tufsu1]

I have never been there, but I think this is terrible. I believe our City Council is losing their minds.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/29016982/detail.html

came up last year too...as long as we're having budget problems, it will come up every year (like the skyway)

[urbanlibertarian]

Here's an archive from the TU with background info on the center:

http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/072104/met_16150777.shtml

Published Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Jacksonville center to host Equestrian Celebration


By MARY KELLI PALKA
The Times-Union,

Jacksonville-area horse lovers are hoping a fall entertainment event at the new Jacksonville Equestrian Center will bring in enough money to upgrade the center while also raising awareness of the Northeast Florida horse industry.

The first Florida Equestrian Celebration will be held Nov. 20-21 at the center, on Normandy Boulevard. In addition to clinics about horses and horse training, the weekend's events include demonstrations and a concert featuring country music star Chris LeDoux.

Mayor John Peyton listens to the announcement Tuesday of the inaugural Florida Equestrian Celebration scheduled for November at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center. RICK WILSON/The Times-Union

Organizers hope the celebration will become an annual event. It benefits the Northeast Florida Equestrian Society, which is raising money for upgrades to the city equestrian center.

Henry H. Graham Jr., who started the non-profit Florida Equestrian Celebration, said if there's no net profit, the group will still consider making a contribution to the society.

Alberta Hipps of the equestrian society said proceeds will go toward new barns. The city has built the first permanent barn and plans to convert a couple of temporary barns into permanent ones. Center Director Lesa Williams said the center has been popular already and has had to turn down larger events because there wasn't enough capacity in the barns or enough parking.

Private donations were supposed to pay for additional barns and other features at the center. So far, those donations have reached about $800,000, Hipps said.

Mayor John Peyton, who was on hand for the announcement of the November event, said he thinks the equestrian center "will be an example of a very successful public-private partnership."

The Jacksonville Equestrian Center and accompanying recreational center cost $32.4 million to design and build. Of that, about $29 million came from a voter-approved tax funding the Better Jacksonville Plan and the remainder from other city funds.

[Wacca Pilatka]

pretty major horse shows, and about the best damn public swimming pool in the entire county.  The JTA unfortunately doesnt see fit to run a bus within two miles of this public facility which is pretty much out in the deep westside----so the public doesnt get to use it very much.

I know I would spend a hella lot of time there if there was anyway to get there without a car.

You realize, of course, that this obligates a reposting of your Death Race bus adventure.

[Doctor_K]

pretty major horse shows, and about the best damn public swimming pool in the entire county.  The JTA unfortunately doesnt see fit to run a bus within two miles of this public facility which is pretty much out in the deep westside----so the public doesnt get to use it very much.

I know I would spend a hella lot of time there if there was anyway to get there without a car.

You realize, of course, that this obligates a reposting of your Death Race bus adventure.

I was *JUST* about to suggest that as well!

[duvaldude08]

Well I pose this question. What purpose has the Equestrain Center served since it has been there? I have never been there, nor do I ever here  of anything being hosted there? I may sound crazy, but what is it exactly? I may sound Naive. Somebody school me please

pretty major horse shows, and about the best damn public swimming pool in the entire county.  The JTA unfortunately doesnt see fit to run a bus within two miles of this public facility which is pretty much out in the deep westside----so the public doesnt get to use it very much.

I know I would spend a hella lot of time there if there was anyway to get there without a car.

It was a very bright idea to have it out in the middle of no where. This is something that definately should have been in the urban core. Oh well. But thanks for the info stephen

[Tacachale]

Here's the map of the facility:

http://www.jaxevents.com/events/jec/EquesAreaPlan.pdf

Most of the facility space is barns and arenas, plus a very large area for the horse trailers, not to mention an rv lot, and regular parking. It's pretty well placed in the more rural area where it is than it would be downtown.

The only problem with the center, such as it is, is that the previous city government never prioritized establishing the public-private partnership so that it could achieve its full potential. But even still, the maintenance costs were built into the budget before ground even broke. It's not like this is an out-of-the-blue expense. And now they're saying "it hasn't reached its full potential, let's shut it down completely". Just silly.

[Charles Hunter]

Wonder if Littlepage will leap to the defense of where his wife works?

[tufsu1]

It was a very bright idea to have it out in the middle of no where. This is something that definately should have been in the urban core. Oh well. But thanks for the info stephen

yes....because a horse park fits so well in the urban core

[thekillingwax]

From the article, it sounds like they're just talking about closing the actual equestrian center part, not the pool. I don't imagine they'd close the pool/rec center part, isn't it used for a lot of competition stuff? I've been there several times and it stays pretty busy, even at $1/person or whatever they charge now, I don't think it would lose that much money- it seems to usually be staffed by kids that I'm guessing aren't paid and are getting their community service credits for school or whatever.

I'm having a hard time feeling real bad about the actual equestrian center though, I think the equestrian community should've been more active in helping to fund it- having a horse isn't like having a dog or cat, it's very deliberate and costly and honestly kinda exclusive thing, if they weren't willing to support it financially, I'd rather see the money maybe used for school sports or something more people can take advantage of.

[DuvalHusky]

Building it near the sports and entertainment would have made more sense. Then there is the part where the value engineered the HVAC out. Now they makes a ton of sense in Florida!